Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 15, Issue 12 813-819, Copyright © 1996 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Micronodulation: ultrasonographic sign of Hashimoto thyroiditis
H. C. Yeh, W. Futterweit and P. Gilbert
Department of Radiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, City University of New York 10029, USA.
The purpose of this work is to assess the validity of an ultrasonographic
sign, micronodulation, in the diagnosis of Hashimoto thyroiditis. Among 101
patients found to have ultrasonographic features of micronodulation, 57
patients had autoantibody test results available. Fifty-four patients were
positive and three were negative for the autoantibodies. Therefore, the
positive predictive value for micronodulation in diagnosing Hashimoto
thyroitis is 94.7%. The micronodules were 0.1 to 0.65 cm in size,
hypoechoic, and surrounded by an echogenic rim. This corresponds to
accentuated lobulation on the pathologic specimen. Although micronodulation
is highly diagnostic of Hashimoto thyroiditis, the ultrasonographic
features of eight biopsy-proved masses caused by Hashimoto thyroiditis
varied and were not specific for the disease.