JIANG Shu,XU Ming-jing,SUN Guo-qiang.Diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound combined with shear wave elastography for thyroid nodules with TI‑RADS categories 3 to 5[J].JOURNAL OF REGIONAL ANATOMY AND OPERATIVE SURGERY,2026,35(05):380-384.
JIANG Shu,XU Ming-jing,SUN Guo-qiang.Diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound combined with shear wave elastography for thyroid nodules with TI‑RADS categories 3 to 5[J].JOURNAL OF REGIONAL ANATOMY AND OPERATIVE SURGERY,2026,35(05):380-384.DOI: 10.11659/jjssx.09E025012.
Diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound combined with shear wave elastography for thyroid nodules with TI‑RADS categories 3 to 5
To explore the diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound combined with shear wave elastography (SWE) for thyroid nodules with thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) categories 3 to 5.
Methods
2
A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 248 patients with TI-RADS categories 3 to 5 thyroid nodules treated in our hospital from January 2023 to January 2025. According to the pathological diagnosis results, the patients were divided into the benign group (
n
=75) and the malignant group (
n
=173). The two-dimensional ultrasound features, and the maximum Young's modulus (
E
max
) and average Young's modulus (
E
mean
) of suspicious nodules were recorded in both
groups. The diagnostic performance of two-dimensional ultrasound and SWE for benign and malignant thyroid nodules and their consistency with pathological diagnosis were analyzed. The diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound and SWE in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules with TI‑RADS categories 3 to 5 was assessed using
receiver operating characteristic
(
ROC
) curve.
Results
2
The two‑dimensional ultrasound features of nodules in the benign group were predominantly mixed echo, regular and clear edge, normal or enhanced posterior echo, large cystic cavity with coarse calcifications, and no surrounding infiltration. While those in the malignant group were low echo or equal echo, irregular and blurred edge, posterior echo attenuation, small cystic cavity with gravel‑like calcifications, and partial surrounding infiltration. The
E
max
and
E
mean
in the benign group were significantly lower than those in the malignant group (
P
0.05). The TI-RADS classification based on two-dimensional ultrasound identified 79 cases (31.85%) of benign nodules and 169 cases (68.15%) of malignant nodules, with a
Kappa
value of 0.678 for consistency with pathological examination. SWE identified 59 cases (23.79%) of benign nodules and 189 cases (76.21%) of malignant nodules, with a
Kappa
value of 0.715 for consistency with pathological examination. The
area under the curve
(
AUC
) of two-dimensional ultrasound combined with SWE for diagnosing benign and malignant thyroid nodules was higher than that of either modality alone.
Conclusion
2
Both TI-RADS classification based on two-dimensional ultrasound and SWE can effectively differentiate the benign and malignant thyroid nodules with TI-RADS categories 3 to 5, and the combination of the two has higher diagnostic value.
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