Diagnostic Accuracy of Shear Wave Elastography to Differentiate Between Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules Taking Histopathology of FNAC Specimen as Gold Standard
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v76iSUPPL-7.13379Keywords:
Thyroid Malignancy, Shear Wave Elastography, SWE, Thyroid Histopathology, Diagnostic Accuracy..Abstract
Objective: To determine diagnostic accuracy of shear wave elastography to differentiate amongst benign and malignant thyroid nodules taking histopathology of FNAC specimen as gold standard.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Multan Pakistan, from Aug 2024 to Jan 2025.
Methodology: In this study two hundred and eighty patients underwent ultrasonic shear wave elastography examination for assessment of the thyroid nodules, elasticity index was measured for each patient and a cutoff value of >66Kpa was taken as suspicion for malignancy. All the patients later went through fine needle aspiration biopsy and status of malignancy confirmed by pathologist (taken as gold standard).
Results: All the patients successfully underwent the study. The mean age of the patients turned out 48.9±12.97 years whereas male to female ratio was 1.28:1 and average nodule size was 1.04 cm with a range of 0.18 to 2.50 cm. The result Shear wave elastography is 78.18% sensitive, 76.52% specific and 77.68% accurate in distinguishing malignant thyroid nodules with a PPV of 82.69% and NPV of 70.97%.
Conclusion: Shear wave elastography is good non-invasive modality in diagnosing the thyroid malignancy with a reasonable percentage of sensitivity and specificity. However, the variable range of its accuracy may advocate more comprehensive studies on the subject.
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