ArticleCancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society2024
Ultrasound microflow patterns help in distinguishing malignant from benign thyroid nodules.
Article in Cancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of malignancy in thyroid nodules: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Letter to the Editor: Microflow imaging for ultrasound risk stratification of thyroid nodules: potential roles and key considerations.European radiology · 2026Article
- Reply to the Letter to the Editor: Microflow imaging for ultrasound risk stratification of thyroid nodules: potential roles and key considerations.European radiology · 2026Article
- Diagnostic value of the nomogram model based on multimodal ultrasound features combined with PS-Tg for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules.Gland surgery · 2026Article
- Elastography Enhances Diagnostic Accuracy of ACR TI-RADS in Thyroid Nodule Evaluation.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Vascularity assessment in Hashimoto's thyroiditis: a prospective comparative study with power Doppler and superb microvascular imaging.Diagnostic and interventional radiology (Ankara, Turkey) · 2026Article
- The role of microflow patterns combined with greyscale ultrasound in enhancing diagnostic validity and reducing unnecessary biopsy rate of thyroid nodules.European radiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of Skeletal Muscle Microvascularity in Relation to Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The FT4/FT3 ratio combined with thyroglobulin and parathyroid hormone for distinguishing benign from malignant thyroid nodules: a retrospective study based on histopathological diagnosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Evaluation of the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging combined with ultrasound and mammography for breast cancer using array spatial sensitivity encoding technique.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Multimodal ultrasound radiomics containing microflow images for the prediction of central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Combing superb microvascular imaging with shear wave elastography for risk stratification of Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) 4 thyroid nodules.Gland surgery · 2024Article
- Efficacy of color Doppler ultrasound signs combined with serum tumor-specific growth factor in the diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer.American journal of translational research · 2024Article
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7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVascular features are not commonly used to evaluate thyroid nodules by conventional ultrasound due to the low sensitivity. Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) is a new ultrasonic Doppler technology that specializes in depicting microvessels and low-speed flow. The objective of this study was to explore the value of microflow features on SMI in differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules.
methodsOne hundred and seventy-seven adult patients with thyroid nodules in our center from October 2021 to June 2022 with available histopathological results were recruited, including 125 malignant nodules and 123 benign nodules. Preoperative ultrasound was performed using greyscale, Color Doppler Flow Imaging (CDFI), monochrome SMI (mSMI) and color SMI (cSMI). Vascular features such as flow richness, microflow distribution and microflow patterns of malignant thyroid nodules were compared with those of benign nodules.
resultsPenetrating vessel ≥ 1 (82.4% in the malignant group vs. 30.9% in the benign group, P < 0.001), the crab claw-like pattern (64.0% vs. 10.6%, P < 0.001) and the root hair-like pattern (8.0% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.049) were common in malignant thyroid nodules, among which the crab claw-like pattern was an independent risk factor for malignant thyroid nodules. The wheel-like pattern (1.6% in the malignant group vs. 33.3% in the benign group, P < 0.001) and the arborescent pattern (0 vs. 19.5%, P < 0.001) were more likely to appear in benign nodules. The diagnostic specificities of the crab claw-like pattern and the root hair-like pattern for malignant thyroid nodules were 0.894, 0.976, and the positive predictive values were 0.860, 0.769. The diagnostic specificities of the wheel-like pattern and the arborescent pattern for benign thyroid nodules were 0.984, 1.000, and the positive predictive values were 0.953, 1.000.
conclusionsThe crab claw-like pattern and the root hair-like pattern were microflow characteristics of malignant thyroid nodules. The wheel-like pattern and the arborescent pattern could help exclude the diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
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