Comparison between sensitivity and specificity of thyroid elastography and fine needle aspiration cytology in differentiating the nature of thyroid nodules

Abstract

hyroid nodules are prevalent in about 3-7 % of cases, and 60 % of them appear in ultrasound examination. They carry a 5 % possibility of being malignant regardless of their sizes. The FNAC biopsy is the golden standard investigation to diagnose benign and malignant thyroid nodules; however, it is an invasive procedure carrying risks of complications. It has been observed that 50% of the resected thyroid nodules were revealed to have benign nature following biopsy. Strain elastography was highlighted as a good tool for pre-operative differentiation of benign from malignant lesions showing high sensitivity and moderate specificity compared to other studies, thus further decreasing thyroid biopsies and surgeries. The most reliable tool in our study was the elasto ratio having the highest sensitivity.