Objective:

To investigate the value of displacement characteristics of thyroid nodules during ultrasoundguide fine-needle aspiration cytology (US-G FNAC) examination in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

Methods:

Totally 80 cases with malignant thyroid nodules and 60 cases with benign thyroid nodules were enrolled in the

study. Thefinal diagnosis was confirmed by pathology. All cases were examined by US-G FNAC before operation. The parameters including the displacement distance of needle tip (D1)

the displacement distance of nodule (D2) and displacement distance of needle tip relative to nodule (D3) were measured during US-G FNAC examination.

Results:

The general parameters were not significantly different between benign and malignant thyroid nodules (

P

0.05). D1

D2 and D3 were not significantly correlated with the location and size of nodules (

P

0.05)

but D2 and D3 were significantly correlated with pathology results (

P

0.05). Compared with benign nodules

D2 was significantly increased and D3 was significantly decreased in malignant nodules (

P

0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the area under curve (AUC) of benign and malignant nodules was 0.951 and 0.938

respectively.

Conclusion:

The displacement characteristics of thyroid nodules during US-G FNAC examination are significantly correlated with pathology results

and can be a supplementary method in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.