Real time-elastography in focal Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Purpose: Few of focal Hashimoto's thyroiditis (FHT) has malignancy-mimicking characteristics in conventional ultrasonography (US), which makes it difficult in differential diagnosis from papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of real time elastography (RTE) in FHT diagnosis. Material and methods: Thirty seven FHT lesions from 32 female (mean age 47.5 ± 11.2 years) and 5 male (mean age 44.1 ± 6.7 years) patients were evaluated. All patients were confirmed by ultrasonography guided-fine needle aspiration (UG-FNA). Follow up US was ended until 12 months a…