SHEAR WAVE ELASTOGRAPHY - A USEFUL TOOL IN DIAGNOSING CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE THYROIDITIS IN CHILDREN

• Published in: Ultrasound in medicine & biology Vol. 48; pp. S8 - S9
• Main Authors: Cepeha, Cristina Mihaela, Borlea, Andreea, Paul, Corina, Stoian, Dana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 2022
• Subjects: children; chronic autoimmune thyroiditis; elastography; shear-wave elastography; thyroid; chronic autoimmune thyroiditis; elastography; shear-wave elastography; thyroid; children
• ISSN: 0301-5629; 1879-291X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2022.04.042

The most common pediatric thyroid disease is chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT), being also one of the most common autoimmune pathologies in children. In addition to the clinical and biological examination, ultrasound brings an important value in thyroid evaluation. Studies have shown the importance of share-wave elastography (SWE) in the diagnosis of thyroid disease in adults. This paper aims to investigate the usefulness of share-wave elastography in the diagnosis of CAT in children.
We included in our study one hundred children aged between 5 and 18 years, divided into two groups, age matched, 50 children without thyroid pathology and 50 children diagnosed with CAT. A complete thyroid examination, including elastography (Aixplorer Mach 30, Supersonic imagine, France), was performed for all study participants.
Thyroid stiffness (TS) values were significantly higher in the CAT group compared to the healthy aged matched controls (15.51 ± 4.76 kPa vs. 10.41 ± 2.01 kPa; p < 0.0001). No differences were found between the mean values obtained in the left lobe and the right lobe, respectively (15.47 ± 4.77 kPa vs. 15.56 ± 5.22 kPa; p = 0.92). The optimal cut-off value determined using the mean TS values for predicting the presence of CAT in children was >12.2 kPa (AUROC—0.88, Se—82%, Sp—88%, PPV—87.2% and NPV—83%). A weak positive correlation was found between TS values and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (ATPO) levels (r = 0.43) and also between TS values and age (r = 0.30). No correlation was found between TS values and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid volume or Antithyroglobulin antibody (ATG) level.
SWE proves to be extremely useful in the diagnosis of CAT in children and should be used in the usual examination of the thyroid whenever possible.