Comparative study of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging with real-time elastography in differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules.

The aims of this study were to evaluate whether acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging of the thyroid gland and thyroid nodules yields reliable results and to compare the values of ARFI imaging with those of real-time elastography (RTE) in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules. RTE and ARFI were performed in 30 patients with 58 thyroid nodules. The results were compared with pathologic findings. Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn to evaluate the diagnostic results. The area under the curve for RTE (0.78) was smaller than that for ARFI (0.94) (p < 0.01). ARFI imaging of thyroid tissue yields more reliable results than RTE.