Diagnosis of thyroid nodules by Doppler ultrasonography: a comparison between color Doppler and power Doppler ultrasonography

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of color and power Doppler imaging in thyroid nodules. The following 4 items were compared between malignant thyroid nodules (34 cases) and benign nodules (51 cases): 1) vascularity; 2) distribution of tumor vessels (none, marginal, peripheral, central); 3) nature of tumor vessels (tortuosity, interruption); and 4) FFT analysis. The distribution of tumor vessels on color Doppler images, nature of tumor vessels on power Doppler images, and the indices of PI, RI, and ATI in FFT analysis were useful in making the differential diagnosis between malignant and benign nodules. In terms of vascularity, including the distribution of tumor vessels on power Doppler images and nature of tumor vessels on color Doppler images, no statistically significant differences were found between malignant and benign nodules. Power Doppler images depicted tumor vessels in more detail than color Doppler images and were considered to extend the application of FFT analysis.