Paik Wooyul, Na Dong Gyu, Gwon Hye Yun, Kim Jinna
Department of Radiology, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea.
Department of Radiology, Human Medical Imaging and Intervention Center, Seoul, Korea.
Ultrasonography. 2020 Apr;39(2):130-136. doi: 10.14366/usg.19045. Epub 2019 Oct 23.
A thyroid nodule with an isolated macrocalcification is visualized as a calcified nodule with complete posterior shadowing on ultrasonography (US). This study aimed to determine the computed tomography (CT) features of isolated macrocalcifications detected using US.
This study included 20 patients who had thyroid nodules with isolated macroalcifications and underwent neck CT or chest CT. The patients were enrolled from a sample of 82 patients with isolated macrocalcifications detected by US drawn from 7,142 consecutive patients who underwent thyroid biopsy at two institutions. We evaluated the CT features of nodules with isolated macrocalcifications and categorized them as central or rim calcifications. We assessed the nodule size and the frequency of nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration (FNA) results and malignant tumors according to the CT features of isolated macrocalcifications.
CT scans showed central calcifications in 18 (90.0%) and rim calcifications in two (10.0%) of the 20 nodules with isolated macrocalcifications. Among the 18 nodules with central isolated macrocalcifications, complete compact calcification was found in six nodules and partial coarse calcification in 12 nodules. In 18 nodules with central isolated macrocalcifications, the nondiagnostic FNA rate and frequency of malignant tumors were not significantly different between complete and partial central calcifications (P=0.620 and P=0.999, respectively). Malignant tumors were only found in nodules with central isolated macrocalcifications.
The majority of nodules with isolated macrocalcifications showed central calcifications on CT. Thyroid nodules with isolated macrocalcifications detected by US should not be classified as having a type of rim or peripheral calcification.
甲状腺孤立性粗大钙化结节在超声检查中表现为钙化结节伴后方完全声影。本研究旨在确定超声检测到的甲状腺孤立性粗大钙化的计算机断层扫描（CT）特征。
本研究纳入20例有甲状腺孤立性粗大钙化结节并接受颈部CT或胸部CT检查的患者。这些患者来自从两个机构接受甲状腺活检的7142例连续患者中通过超声检测出的82例有孤立性粗大钙化的患者样本。我们评估了有孤立性粗大钙化结节的CT特征，并将其分为中央钙化或边缘钙化。我们根据孤立性粗大钙化的CT特征评估结节大小、非诊断性细针穿刺（FNA）结果的频率以及恶性肿瘤的情况。
在20个有孤立性粗大钙化的结节中，CT扫描显示18个（90.0%）为中央钙化，2个（10.0%）为边缘钙化。在18个有中央孤立性粗大钙化的结节中，6个结节为完全致密钙化，12个结节为部分粗大钙化。在18个有中央孤立性粗大钙化的结节中，完全和部分中央钙化之间的非诊断性FNA率和恶性肿瘤频率无显著差异（分别为P = 0.620和P = 0.999）。恶性肿瘤仅在有中央孤立性粗大钙化的结节中发现。
大多数有孤立性粗大钙化的结节在CT上表现为中央钙化。超声检测到的有孤立性粗大钙化的甲状腺结节不应归类为边缘或周边钙化类型。
