Guo-Yi Su1, Xiao-Quan Xu1, Yan Zhou1, Hao Zhang2, Yan Si2, Mei-Ping Shen2, Fei-Yun Wu1. 1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China. 2. Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Computed tomography texture analysis (CTTA) provides objective and quantitative information regarding tumor heterogeneity beyond visual inspection. However, no study has yet used CTTA to differentiate metastatic from non-metastatic cervical lymph node in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). PURPOSE: To evaluate the value of texture analysis of dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT images in diagnosing cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with PTC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Metastatic (n = 27) and non-metastatic (n = 32) cervical lymph nodes were analyzed retrospectively. Texture analyses were performed on both arterial (A) and venous (V) phase CT images. Texture parameters, including mean gray-level intensity, skewness, kurtosis, entropy, and uniformity, were obtained and compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used in our study. RESULTS: Metastatic lymph nodes showed significantly higher A-mean gray-level intensity, A-entropy, and lower A-kurtosis and V-kurtosis (all P < 0.001) than non-metastatic mimics. The ROC curve analyses indicated that A-kurtosis demonstrated an optimal diagnostic area under the curve (AUC; 0.884) and specificity (92.59%), while the A-mean gray-level intensity showed optimal diagnostic sensitivity (90.62%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that A-mean gray-level intensity (P = 0.006, odds ratio [OR] = 24.297) and V-kurtosis (P = 0.014, OR = 19.651) were the independent predictor for metastatic cervical lymph node. CONCLUSION: Dual-phase contrast-enhanced CCTA-especially A-mean gray-level intensity and V-kurtosis-may have the potential to diagnose metastatic cervical lymph node in patients with PTC.
BACKGROUND: Computed tomography texture analysis (CTTA) provides objective and quantitative information regarding tumor heterogeneity beyond visual inspection. However, no study has yet used CTTA to differentiate metastatic from non-metastatic cervical lymph node in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). PURPOSE: To evaluate the value of texture analysis of dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT images in diagnosing cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with PTC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Metastatic (n = 27) and non-metastatic (n = 32) cervical lymph nodes were analyzed retrospectively. Texture analyses were performed on both arterial (A) and venous (V) phase CT images. Texture parameters, including mean gray-level intensity, skewness, kurtosis, entropy, and uniformity, were obtained and compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used in our study. RESULTS: Metastatic lymph nodes showed significantly higher A-mean gray-level intensity, A-entropy, and lower A-kurtosis and V-kurtosis (all P < 0.001) than non-metastatic mimics. The ROC curve analyses indicated that A-kurtosis demonstrated an optimal diagnostic area under the curve (AUC; 0.884) and specificity (92.59%), while the A-mean gray-level intensity showed optimal diagnostic sensitivity (90.62%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that A-mean gray-level intensity (P = 0.006, odds ratio [OR] = 24.297) and V-kurtosis (P = 0.014, OR = 19.651) were the independent predictor for metastatic cervical lymph node. CONCLUSION: Dual-phase contrast-enhanced CCTA-especially A-mean gray-level intensity and V-kurtosis-may have the potential to diagnose metastatic cervical lymph node in patients with PTC.