Contrast-enhanced ultrasound with perfusion analysis for the identification of malignant and benign tumours of the thyroid gland.

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate, whether the analysis of time intensity curves (TIC) of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) could help to differentiate between thyroid adenomas and carcinomas in daily clinical routine.B-mode, Colour Coded Doppler Sonography (CCDS), Power Doppler (PD) and CEUS were applied for 50 patients (27 men, 23 women; mean age 51 years, range 16-81 years).CEUS cine-sequences were analysed using time intensity curves (TIC) and calculating time to peak (TTP) as well as the area under the curve (AUC).All 20 patients with carcinomas presented with a complete wash-out in the late phase of CEUS while this occurred only in three out of the 30 patients with adenomas.Marked differences were observed between adenomas and carcinomas concerning the mean AUC in the surrounding thyroid tissue (p = 0.041). In addition, TTP differed clearly between the centre and the surrounding of the carcinomas (p < 0.05) as well as between TTP in the border area and the surrounding tissue (p = 0.01). CEUS in combination with TIC analysis allows a dynamic evaluation of the microvascularisation of thyroid nodules and is helpful for the differentiation of benign and malignant nodules.