Clinical value of ultrasound parameters PI, TTP, and MTT in assessing cervical lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To determine the clinical value of ultrasound in assessing cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Methods: The medical records of 179 PTC patients treated in Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital between March 2016 and March 2019 were collected. The patients were assigned to a transfer group (54 cases) and a non-transfer group (125 cases) according to their pathologic results. The ultrasound parameters (peak intensity (PI), time to peak (TTP), and mean transit time (MTT)) of the two groups were compared. Then, multivariate logistic regression was used to analysis the results, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the value of risk factors in predicting CLNM.

Results: The transfer group showed notably lower PI, TTP and MTT than the non-transfer group (P<0.001), and focus diameter, microcalcification, multiple foci, PI, TTP, and MTT were identified as independent risk factors for LNM in patients (P<0.05). According to the ROC curve, the areas under the curves (AUCs) of microcalcification, multiple foci, and PI were all smaller than 0.7; the AUCs of focus diameter and MTT were smaller than 0.8, and the AUC of TTP was 0.855.

Conclusion: PI, TTP, and MTT all decrease in PTC patients with CLNM, and TTP has a strong predictor for CLNM in them, with an AUC of 0.855.