The combination of virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) and American College of Radiology's Thyroid...

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a common autoimmune thyroid disease, which is significantly related to papillary thyroid carcinoma. The present study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) combined with the American College of Radiology's Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR TI-RADS) in benign and malignant thyroid nodules (TNs) with concurrent HT.

This single-center retrospective observation consecutively selected patients diagnosed with TNs with HT. All patients underwent conventional ultrasound examination and VTIQ. The composition, echogenicity, shape, margins, and echogenic foci were recorded and evaluated, and the lesions were classified by the 2017 ACR TI-RADS. We assessed the diagnostic performance of the average, minimum, and maximum shear wave velocity (SWV) values captured from VTIQ mode.

Pathological analyses of 235 TNs revealed 133 benign and 102 malignant nodules. A total of 86 lesions were classified as malignant, and 113 were classified as benign by ACR TI-RADS, with 84.3% sensitivity, 85.0% specificity, and 84.7% accuracy. A total of 89 lesions were classified as malignant, and 114 were classified as benign by VTIQ, with 86.3% sensitivity, 85.7% specificity, and 85.9% accuracy. A total of 91 lesions were classified as malignant, and 117 were classified as benign by combining VTIQ and ACR TI-RADS, with 88.0% sensitivity, 89.2% specificity, and 88.5% accuracy.

The VTIQ technique is a valuable tool for distinguishing malignant from benign TNs in patients with HT. There was a linear dose-response relationship between the average SWV (SWVavg) and malignant TNs. The combination of VTIQ and ACR TI-RADS can help to improve the diagnostic efficiency in distinguishing between benign and malignant TNs with HT.