Sonographic shear-wave elastography and ri values in hashimoto's thyroiditis disease

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is one of the leading autoimmunity diseases most frequently seen in the population. The aim of the study is to investigate the contribution of elastography and resistive index (RI) values to the diagnosis in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis by comparing them with the normal group. 170 cases diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in terms of clinical, laboratory and radiology tests and 27 volunteer participants who had normal sonographic-laboratory examinations between 03.03.2018-25.02.2020 were included in our study. Grey scale ultrasonography, doppler, sonoelastrography examinations were performed for all cases. In all participants, shear wave elastography (SWE) was measured in the thyroid glands, 3 times each in the right and left lobes, with a total of 6 times each and RI were measured once in each lobe. 172 participants, 145 being the case group and 27 being the control group fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the study. 25 cases not meeting the inclusion criteria were excluded from the study. The elastography median value was found as 2.33 m/s for the case group whereas it was measured 1.615 m/s for the control group. It was found significantly higher in the case group (p<0,001). According to the ROC analysis carried out through the elastography values in the case group, the cut off value was found as 1.85. In this cutting point, the sensitivity was found as 83.45% and the specificity as 81.48%. Positive predictive value was calculated as 96.03%, negative predictive value as 47.83% and accuracy as 83.76%. There was not a significant difference in RI values between the case and control groups (p=0,776). When 4 classes are formed according to the sonographic echogenicity in the patient group, a statistically significant increase in elastography and RI values was found as the echogenicity decreased (p< 0.05). In conclusion, it is believed that including RI measurements of a color doppler ultrasonographic examination parameter and the SWE technique providing quantitative results during the grey scale ultrasonographic examinations will considerably increase diagnostic sensitivity in terms of the diagnosis and follow-up of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Keywords: Hashimoto's thyroiditis, shear wave elastography, doppler ultrasonography, resistive index