TIRADS, SRE and SWE in INDETERMINATE thyroid nodule characterization: which has better diagnostic performance?

Purpose: To assess Strain Ratio (SRE) and Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) accuracy alone and with TIRADS classification, for the risk stratification of indeterminate thyroid nodules. Materials and methods: 128 Patients with 128 indeterminate nodules candidates for thyroidectomy underwent preoperative staging neck ultrasound and were classified according to K-TIRADS score. After TIRADS evaluation, semi-quantitative (SRE) and quantitative (SWE expressed in kPa) elastosonography were performed and relative diagnostic performances, alone and in combination, were compared through ROC curves analysis. In order to maximize the SRE and SWE sensitivity and specificity, their cut-off values were calculated using the Liu test. Bonferroni test was used to evaluate statistically significant differences with a p value < 0.05. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were, respectively, 71.4%, 82.4%, 62.5%, 87.5% for K-TIRADS baseline US, 85.7%, 94.1%, 85.7%, 94.1% for SRE and 57.1%, 79.4%, 53.3%, 81.8% for SWE (kPa expressed). SRE evaluation showed the best diagnostic accuracy compared to the SWE (kPa expressed) (p < 0.05) and to the K-TIRADS (p > 0.05). The association of SRE with conventional ultrasound with K-TIRADS score increased sensitivity (92.9% vs 71.4%) but decreased the specificity than conventional US alone (76.5% vs 82.4%). Conclusion: Strain Elastosonography can be associated with K-TIRADS US examination in the thyroid nodule characterization with indeterminate cytology; in fact, adding the SRE to K-TIRADS assessment significantly increases its sensitivity and negative predictive value. However, further multicenter studies on larger population are warranted.