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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
Author Spotlight: Integrating Ultrasound Imaging with Biochemical Markers for Thyroid Disease Diagnosis
Published on: February 9, 2024
Contrast enhanced ultrasound at first month: A feasible predictor for retreatment after benign thyroid nodule thermal
Tinghui Yin1, Yifei Leng1, Bowen Zheng1
1Department of Medical Ultrasonic, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
Objectives:
To determine the clinical values of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) at the first follow-up for predicting retreatment in benign thyroid nodules (BTNs) after thermal ablation (TA).
Materials And Methods:
A total of 176 BTNs from 155 patients who underwent TA with a median follow-up period of 32.5 months (range 7 to 83 months) were enrolled in this study. Initial ablation ratio (IAR) and CEUS base IAR (CIAR) was calculated by conventional US and CEUS at 1-month after TA. The predicting performances for retreatment of quantitative and qualitative CEUS at 1-month after TA were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
Results:
The median final volume reduction rate (VRR) of all nodules was 96.9% (range 31.4% to 100%). The areas under curves (AUCs) of quantitative and qualitative CEUS at 1-month for nodular retreatment were 0.986 and 0.981. Correspondingly, the sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV) and negative likelihood ratio (LR) were 100%, 100% and 0 for both quantitative and qualitative CEUS.
Conclusion:
CEUS at 1-month is a feasible predictor for nodular retreatment after BTNs TA. According to our results, CEUS is recommended as routine at the first follow-up for BTNs underwent TA.
