Quantitative Analysis Of Enhancement Patterns Of Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma In Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound

Objective : The aim of our study was to to discuss the contrast-enhancement patterns of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma(PTMC)through analyzing the quantitative parameters obtained from time intensity curves(TIC)in patients with PTMC.Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 60 patients with PTMC in our hospital from October 2017 to October 2019.These patients were verified by histology from surgery or ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration biopsy(US-FNAB),and underwent preoperative CEUS.The central area and marginal area of PTMC,the PTMC nodule and surrounding normal thyroid tissue were selected as regions of interest(ROI).The TIC of all the ROIs were analyzed by QLAB software to obtain quantitative parameters,including arrival time(AT),peak time(TTP),peak intensity(PI)and area under the curve(AUC).The paired sample t test was used to compare these quantitative parameters.Results:1 Compared with the surrounding normal thyroid tissue,the PI and AUC of PTMC were smaller than those of the surrounding normal thyroid tissue,and the differences were statistically significant(P <0.05).The differences between PTMC and surrounding normal thyroid tissue about AT and TTP were not statistically significant(P <0.05).2 Compared with the peripheral area of PTMC,the AT value in the center area of PTMC was larger than the peripheral area,the difference was statistically significant(P <0.05);PI and AUC in the central area of PTMC were smaller than those in the surrounding area of PTMC,and the differences were statistically significant(P <0.05).There was no significant difference in TTP between the central and marginal regions of PTMC(P> 0.05).Conclusion :A preliminary conclusion is obtained by analyzing various quantitative parameters: PTMC enhancement patterns is characterized by low enhancement and centripetal enhancement.