Ultrasonic characters and clinical features of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid

Abstract

Objective To analyze the clinical and ultrasonic features of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid(PSCCT)and diagnostic value of ultrasonography (US) in PSCCT in order to improve the cognition of PSCCT.Methods The clinical data and ultrasonic characters of 5 patients with PSCCT confirmed by pathology post surgery were retrospectively reviewed.Results The average age of the 5 patients was 62 years (range from 46 to 79).All of 5 patients with PSCCT were presented with a painless neck mass in clinical palpation examination.Of them,2 patients had different degrees of difficulty in breathing and swallowing,2 patients had hoarseness.Four of 5 patients had died after surgery with average survival time of 9.5 months.On US,the size of lesions was large(a maximum diameter of 2.9-5.5 cm),all of 5 lesions appeared as single solid mixed-echogenicity mass including irregular lamellate marked hypoechoic region,with irregular margin and undefined boundary.Of them,2 lesions presented with lobulated,only 1 lesion exhibited microcalcification and another 4 lesions had no calcification,3 lesions exhibited a? sign of breakthrough thyroid envelope.Color Doppler flow imaging showed few blood flow (3/5) and moderate blood flow (2/5),a higher vascular resistance spectrum was detected in 4 lesions (RI 0.72-0.88).Three patients exhibited suspicious cervical lymph nodes.Conclusions The characteristic ultrasonic appearance combined with the clinical features enables a confident preoperative diagnosis of PSCCT. Key words: Ultrasonography; Thyroid neoplasms ; Carcinoma, squamous cell