APPLICATION OF SHEAR WAVE ELASTOGRAPHY FOR DIFFERENTIATING PARATHYROID ADENOMAS AND COLLOID THYROID NODULES
Khamzina F.T.1,2, Vagapova G.R.¹, Druzhkova N.B.³
1 - Kazan State Medical Academy, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education.
2 - Occupational health facility of Kazan (Volga region) Federal University.
3 - M.Z. Sigal Regional Clinical Oncological Dispensary, Tatarstan Ministry of Healthcare. Kazan, Russia.
Purpose. To study the efficacy of ultrasound shear wave elastography in differential diagnostics of parathyroid adenomas in primary hyperparathyroidism from nodular masses of the thyroid.
Materials and Methods. The study included a group of 71 patients (69 women and 2 men) with clinically and morphologically confirmed primary hyperparathyroidism and a group of 17 patients with cytologically verified nodular or multinodular colloid goiter (13 women and 4 men), who underwent an ultrasound examination (US) of the thyroid gland (TG) with two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) on the Aixplorer device (SuperSonic Imagine, France).
Results. Quantitative assessment of stiffness was performed in 76 adenomatous altered parathyroid glands (PTG), in 94 visually unchanged PTG, in 33 colloid thyroid nodules and in 64 visually unchanged areas of the thyroid parenchyma.
When comparing the mean values of Young's modulus (Emean) of normal thyroid tissue (10 ± 2.5 kPa) with unchanged parathyroid glands (10 ± 3.7 kPa) and with parathyroid gland adenomas (9.4 ± 3.6 kPa), no significant difference was found (p = 0.296 and p = 0.282, respectively). Statistically significant differences were obtained when comparing the stiffness of colloid nodules with histologically confirmed parathyroid adenomas with a threshold value of Emean above 12.5 kPa (p=0.019). The diagnostic efficiency of the test "Emean>12.5 kPa - colloid nodules" is characterized by a specificity of 81.2% and a sensitivity of 52.9%. (AUC 0.706±0.078).
Conclusion. 2D-shear wave elastography is a promising method of differential diagnosis between parathyroid adenomas in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and colloidal thyroid nodes. This study demonstrated that parathyroid adenomas are more elastic than colloid nodules. The threshold meaning of Еmean >12,5 kPa can be used for their differential diagnostics with specificity of 81,2% (AUC 0,706±0,078).
Keywords: parathyroid glands, ultrasound examination, ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE), primary hyperparathyroidism (PHTP), parathyroid adenoma, colloid thyroid nodules.
Corresponding author: Khamzina F.T., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript
For citation: Khamzina F.T., Vagapova G.R., Druzhkova N.B. Application of shear wave elastography for differentiating parathyroid adenomas and colloid thyroid nodules. REJR 2026; 16(1):104-114. DOI: 10.21569/2222-7415-2026-16-1-104-114.
Received: 25.07.25 Accepted: 03.09.25