Added value of mass characteristic frequency to 2-D shear wave elastography for differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

Abstract

Mass characteristic frequency (f_mass) is a novel shear wave (SW) parameter that represents the ratio of the averaged minimum SW speed within the regions of interest to the largest dimension of the mass. Our study objective was to evaluate if the addition of f_mass to conventional 2-D shear wave elastography (SWE) parameters would improve the differentiation of benign from malignant thyroid nodules. Our cohort comprised 107 patients with 113 thyroid nodules, of which 67 (59%) were malignant. Two-dimensional SWE data were obtained using the Supersonic Imagine Aixplorer ultrasound system equipped with a 44- to 15-MHz15-MHz linear array transducer. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated based on a multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate the ability of SWE parameters with/without f_mass and with/without clinical factors to discriminate benign from malignant thyroid nodules. The addition of f_mass to conventional SW elasticity parameters increased the area under the curve from 0.808 to 0.871 (p = 0.02). The combination of SW elasticity parameters plus f_mass plus clinical factors provided the strongest thyroid nodule malignancy probability estimate, with a sensitivity of 93.4% and specificity of 91.1% at the optimal threshold. In summary, f_mass can be a valuable addition to conventional 2-D SWE parameters.

Keywords: Mass characteristic frequency; Shear wave elastography; Thyroid nodules; Ultrasound; f(mass).