Assessment of Diffuse Thyroid Disease by Strain Ratio in Ultrasound Elastography

The goal of this study was to explore the value of strain ratio from real-time elastography in the semi-quantitative assessment of diffuse thyroid disease. Fifty-one patients with primary hyperthyroidism, 70 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 8 with subacute thyroiditis and 43 with normal healthy thyroids were recruited to measure the strain ratio (SR) of thyroid tissue and sternocleidomastoid muscle (on the same side of the thyroid). SR values of all groups were subjected to statistical analysis. The SRs (mean ± standard deviation) of patients with hyperthyroidism, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and subacute thyroiditis were 2.30 ± 1.08, 7.04 ± 7.74 and 24.09 ± 13.56, respectively. The SR of the control group was 1.76 ± 0.54. SR values ranked in ascending order were control group < hyperthyroidism group < Hashimoto's thyroiditis group < subacute thyroiditis group. There were statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in thyroid hardness between groups with different diffuse thyroid diseases. SR values of the hyperthyroidism and control groups did not statistically differ (p > 0.05). It is feasible to assess diffuse thyroid disease with strain ratios obtained with ultrasound elastography.