The diagnostic value of the ultrasound gray scale ratio for different sizes of thyroid nodules

At present, hypoechogenicity, as one of the clinically relevant features associated with suspicion of malignant thyroid disease, is affected by the variability of modules and the experience of sonographers, thus leading to unsatisfying results. We propose the ultrasound gray scale ratio (UGSR) to obtain an objective, numerical estimate of the echogenicity degree in different-sized thyroid nodules, and we then evaluate its diagnostic efficacy in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid lesions. In total, 553 ultrasound images of thyroid nodules from one kind of ultrasonographic scanner were analyzed, among which 281 were papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) and 272 were nodular goiters (NGs). The UGSR of the PTCs, NGs, and surrounding normal thyroid tissue was measured by image analysis software. The best cut-off value for distinguishing various sizes of PTCs and NGs was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. As the UGSR increased, the sensitivity of the diagnosing PTCs decreased, and the specificity increased. When the maximum Jordan index was 0.611, the best cut-off value was 0.692, and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing PTCs were 87.9% and 73.2%, respectively. For the analysis of subgroups of different tumor sizes, as the size of thyroid nodules increased from 0.3 to 2 cm, the sensitivity of the diagnosis of PTCs decreased from 97.5% to 58.8%, and the specificity increased from 72.4% to 90.9%. These results strongly suggest that the UGSR is an appropriate objective, numerical method for estimating the echogenicity degree and has various diagnostic efficacies in different-sized thyroid nodules. Thus, the UGSR can be used as an additional ultrasound parameter in the diagnosis of different-sized PTCs and NGs.