TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bojunga, Jörg
A1  - Dauth, Nina
A1  - Berner, Christian
A1  - Meyer, Gesine
A1  - Holzer, Katharina
A1  - Voelkl, Lisa
A1  - Herrmann, Eva
A1  - Schroeter, Hartmut
A1  - Zeuzem, Stefan
A1  - Friedrich-Rust, Mireen
T1  - Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for differentiation of thyroid nodules
T2  - PLoS One
N2  - Background: Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI)-imaging is an ultrasound-based elastography method enabling quantitative measurement of tissue stiffness. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of ARFI-imaging for differentiation of thyroid nodules and to compare it to the well evaluated qualitative real-time elastography (RTE).
Methods: ARFI-imaging involves the mechanical excitation of tissue using acoustic pulses to generate localized displacements resulting in shear-wave propagation which is tracked using correlation-based methods and recorded in m/s. Inclusion criteria were: nodules $5 mm, and cytological/histological assessment. All patients received conventional ultrasound, real-time elastography (RTE) and ARFI-imaging. 
Results: One-hundred-fifty-eight nodules in 138 patients were available for analysis. One-hundred-thirty-seven nodules were benign on cytology/histology, and twenty-one nodules were malignant. The median velocity of ARFI-imaging in the healthy thyroid tissue, as well as in benign and malignant thyroid nodules was 1.76 m/s, 1.90 m/s, and 2.69 m/s, respectively. While no significant difference in median velocity was found between healthy thyroid tissue and benign thyroid nodules, a significant difference was found between malignant thyroid nodules on the one hand and healthy thyroid tissue (p = 0.0019) or benign thyroid nodules (p = 0.0039) on the other hand. No significant difference of diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules was found between RTE and ARFI-imaging (0.74 vs. 0.69, p = 0.54). The combination of RTE with ARFI did not improve diagnostic accuracy.
Conclusions: ARFI can be used as an additional tool in the diagnostic work up of thyroid nodules with high negative predictive value and comparable results to RTE.
Y1  - 2012
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/25856
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-258560
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 7
IS  - (8):e42735
PB  - PLoS
CY  - Lawrence, Kan.
ER  -