A Study To Evaluate Progression Of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis By Ultrasonic Elastography Score Method And Strain Ratio Method

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the value of ultrasounic elastographyUE score method andstrain ratio (SR) Method in the diagnosis of the progression ofHashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Methods In accordance with thyroid function, HT could bedivided into four terms: low level of serum TSH was interpreted as a symbol of hyperthyroidism;normal level of serum TSH was interpreted as a symbol of euthyroidism; high level of serumTSH and normal level of FT3and FT4was interpreted as a symbol of subclinicalhypothyroidism; high level of serum TSH and low level of FT3or FT4was interpreted as asymbol of clinical hypothyroidism.116patients who had been diagnosed clinically asHashimoto’s thyroiditis were enrolled in the study. They were treated in Shanxi MedicalUniversitiy Affiliated Tumor Hospital from October2010to May2011. Those patients wereclassified into four groups: the hyperthyroidism group, the euthyroidism group, the subclinicalhypothyroidism group, and the clinical hypothyroidism group. What’s more,50volunteers withnormal thyroid functions were enrolled as a control group. All subjects were examined byultrasounic elastography and scored. SR of the thyroid and Sternocleidomastoid muscle of sameside was calculated. The correlation coefficient between the UE scores, SR and the serumThyroid Stimulating Hormone TSH was evaluated. Results1. The score increased in the orderof the control group, the hyperthyroidism group, the euthyroidism group, the subclinicalhypothyroidism group and the clinical hypothyroidism group.2. The SR increased in anascending order among the patients group with hyperthyroidism, the control group, the groupwith euthyroidism, the group with subclinical hypothyroidism, and the group of patients withclinical hypothyroidism.3. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient between the elasiticity scoresand the serum TSH was0.494(P<0.01). The equation of linear regression was presented asY=1.763+0.014X (Y=elasiticity score, X=serum TSH). The Spearman’s correlation coefficientbetween the SR and the serum TSH was0.605, which was significant (P<0.01). The equation oflinear regression was presented as Y=1.512+0.013X (Y=SR, X=serum TSH). The elasiticityscores and SR grew with the rise of serum TSH. Conclusions UE provided the information of the hardness of the tissue, which made it possible to evaluate the hardness of different phases ofHT. UE provided a objective diagnostic standard for HT, and UE score and SR had positivecorrelation with serum TSH. UE was valuable for evaluation the progression of HT.