Abstract:

Objective To study the ultrasonographic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma nodules (PTC) with lymph node metastasis (LNM). Method The data of patients with PTC who underwent thermal ablation from July 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into LNM group and non-LNM group. The imaging features and parameters between the two groups both on conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound were compared. Result A total of 91 patients with PTC were included, including 31 cases in the LNM group and 60 cases in the non-LNM group. In the LNM group, the proportion of nodules with length/width ratio larger than 1.0 or with microcalcification were higher than those in the non-LNM group, and the difference were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05); The peak intensity (PI)difference was lower than that in the non-LNM group (P ＜ 0.05). ROC curve analysis was performed to test the diagnostic efficiency of PI difference to diagnose PTC with LNM. The area under the curve was 0.63, the optimum critical value was -7.3, the sensitivity was 42% and the specificity was 43%. Conclusion The imaging features and parameter showed significant differences between the LNM group and non-LNM group. The above results may be helpful to predict the biological characteristics of PTC.

Key words: Papillary thyroid carcinoma, Thermal ablation, Contrast-enhanced ultrasound, Lymph node metastasis