Wu Ming-Hsun, Chen Chiung-Nien, Chen Kuen-Yuan, Ho Ming-Chih, Tai Hao-Chih, Wang Yu-Hsin, Chen Argon, Chang King-Jen
Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
AmCad BioMed Corporation, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 20;6:35632. doi: 10.1038/srep35632.
Hypoechogenicity has been described qualitatively and is potentially subject to intra- and inter-observer variability. The aim of this study was to clarify whether quantitative echoic indexes (EIs) are useful for the detection of malignant thyroid nodules. Overall, 333 participants with 411 nodules were included in the final analysis. Quantification of echogenicity was performed using commercial software (AmCAD-UT; AmCad BioMed, Taiwan). The coordinates of three defined regions, the nodule, thyroid parenchyma, and strap muscle regions, were recorded in the database separately for subsequent analysis. And the results showed that ultrasound echogenicity (US-E), as assessed by clinicians, defined hypoechogenicity as an independent factor for malignancy. The EI, adjusted EI (EI; EI) and automatic EI values between benign and malignant nodules were all significantly different, with lower values for malignant nodules. All of the EIs showed similar percentages of sensitivity and specificity and had better accuracies than US-E. In conclusion, the proposed quantitative EI seems more promising to constitute an important advancement than the conventional qualitative US-E in allowing for a more reliable distinction between benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
低回声已被定性描述，并且可能存在观察者内部和观察者之间的差异。本研究的目的是阐明定量回声指数（EI）是否有助于检测甲状腺恶性结节。最终分析共纳入了333名参与者的411个结节。使用商业软件（AmCAD-UT；台湾AmCad Biomed公司）对回声进行定量分析。三个定义区域（结节、甲状腺实质和带状肌区域）的坐标分别记录在数据库中以供后续分析。结果显示，临床医生评估的超声回声（US-E）将低回声定义为恶性的独立因素。良性和恶性结节之间的EI、调整后的EI（EI；EI）和自动EI值均有显著差异，恶性结节的值较低。所有EI的敏感性和特异性百分比相似，且比US-E具有更高的准确性。总之，与传统的定性US-E相比，所提出的定量EI在更可靠地区分甲状腺良性和恶性结节方面似乎更有前景，有望构成一项重要进展。
