Application of virtual touch tissue imaging combined with ultrasound vascular enhancement technique in the diagnosis of hypoechoic focal Hashimoto thyroiditis

Objective To explore the application of virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) combined with ultrasound vascular enhancement technique (VET) in the diagnosis of focal hypoechoic Hashimoto thyroiditis (FHT). Methods A total of 52 hypoechoic thyroid lesions, including 20 FHT cases and 32 papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) cases, which were diagnosed by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) or surgical pathology were selected and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The characteristics of the lesions were observed by high-frequency ultrasound, VTI and VET to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of VTI combined with VET for hypoechoic FHT. Results The VTI score was 1 to 3 for 95% (19/20) FHT cases and 4 to 5 for 78% (25/32) PTC cases, which was statistically different (P<0.05). VET results showed that there were statistical differences between FHT and PTC in the vascular morphology and the echo of thyroid tissue within and outside the lesion (P<0.05). When VTI score ≤3 combined with VET were used for diagnosis efficacy of the echo of thyroid tissue within and outside the lesion for FHT, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy was 85.0%, 93.8%, and 90.4%, respectively. Conclusions VTI combined with VET can effectively distinguish hypoechoic FHT and PTC and improve the diagnostic accuracy of hypoechoic FHT, with high clinical application value.