Three-dimensional reconstruction of cervical CT vs ultrasound for estimating residual thyroid volume

Abstract

To compare the accuracy of three-dimensional reconstruction of cervical CT and ultrasound for estimating residual thyroid volume. We performed a retrospective analysis of 17 patients with 21 residual thyroid glands undergoing thyroidectomy surgery between February, 2017 and March, 2018 in our department. We compared the residual thyroid volume in preoperative ultrasound with the intraoperative measurement and the volume measured using threedimensional CT reconstruction before surgery. The maximum vertical and anterioposterior diameters of the residual thyroid measured by preoperative ultrasound differed significantly from the volume data measured intraoperatively (P < 0.05), but the difference in the maximum left-right diameters was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The maximum vertical, leftright, and anteroposterior diameters estimated by three-dimensional reconstruction of cervical CT was all similar with those measured intraoperatively (P>0.05). Compared with ultrasound examination, three-dimensional reconstruction of neck CT is more accurate for estimating the residual thyroid volume and provides more reliable evidence for clinical calculation of postoperative I131 dose for thyroid cancer.