Comparison of results of elastography with hormonal and metabolic status in patients with the diagnosis of thyroid neoplasms

: In order to assess the effectiveness of compression elastography of the thyroid gland as a method for differential diagnosis to studies conducted in the pre-operative period, there were involved 34 patients with a mean age 46.6 +/- 2.7 years. Elastography in the real time was characterized, according to the method of estimating, by a relatively high sensitivity (85.2-92.5%) and accuracy (70.6-79.4%), but low (30%) specificity. The specificity of the method, as it turned out, could be improved by taking into account the level of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the blood or body mass index (BMI) of the patients and, therefore, reducing the number of false-positive findings. Further improvement in the pre-operative diagnosis of malignant tumors of the thyroid gland and the formation of appropriate risk groups could be based on a combination of cytologic, hormonal, genetic and instrumental methods, including the so-called shear wave elastography.