Comparison between Thin-Slice 3-D Volumetric Ultrasound and Conventional Ultrasound in the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Lesions

We explored the efficacy of thin-slice volumetric 3-D ultrasound (3-DUS) in distinguishing between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. A total of 103 thyroid nodules were evaluated prospectively using 3-D gray-scale ultrasonography. The shape, margin, halo and potential capsular invasion of the nodules were compared with the findings of conventional 2-D ultrasound (2-DUS). Of the 103 thyroid nodules, there were 50 pathologically confirmed benign lesions and 53 malignant lesions (51.5%). Shape irregularity, ill-defined margins and capsular invasion provided sensitivities of 90.0%, 47.2% and 39.6% and specificities of 88.0%, 84.0% and 100%, respectively, for the malignant lesions. The diagnosis of thyroid cancer was improved in 3-DUS compared with 2-DUS, with a sensitivity of 88.7%, specificity of 90.0%, positive predictive value of 90.4%, negative predictive value of 88.2% and accuracy of 89.3%. The sensitivity of detection for lesions with capsular invasion increased to 39.6% with 3-DUS, more than twice that of 2-DUS. Three-dimensional US is highly accurate in diagnosing thyroid nodules, particularly those with capsular invasion.