Association between computed tomography-detected calcification and thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of calcification detected by computed tomography (CT) for the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. This is a retrospective study of 930 consecutive patients (709 women, 221 men; mean age 51 years) with pathologically proven thyroid nodules. The characteristics of calcification on CT images were correlated with the pathological results. A total of 168 patients were pathologically diagnosed with thyroid carcinomas and 762 patients with benign thyroid nodules. Calcification was found in 231 cases (24.84%). The incidence of calcification was significantly higher in patients with thyroid carcinoma (52.38%) than in those with benign nodules (18.77%; P < 0.001). Detection of calcification in diagnosing thyroid carcinoma had a sensitivity of 52.38% (88/168) and specificity of 81.23% (619/762). No significant difference was noticed in the incidence of microcalcification (≤ 2 mm) between malignant and benign nodules (P = 0.305). Calcification is more frequently found in thyroid carcinomas than benign nodules. CT detected-calcification may suggest malignant disease. Further confirmation of the suspected malignancy with fine-needle aspiration or surgery is still needed.