Deciphering ultrasound of the thyroid gland is an important point in diagnosing diseases of this organ. This method is used to suspect any problems with the thyroid gland. It is completely safe and provides a large amount of information about the state of the thyroid gland.

Ultrasound of the thyroid gland: indications

• Suspicion of changes in the thyroid gland (palpable enlargement of the gland upon palpation, results of blood tests for hormones).
• The presence of symptoms causing suspicion of a thyroid disease (nervousness, weight loss, excessive fatigue, discomfort in the throat).
• Living in areas where there is a lack of iodine in water and foods.
• Pregnancy planning.
• Treatment of already identified thyroid diseases.
• Age after 35 years.

In all these cases, and in some other cases, the doctor prescribes an ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland. If the goal is preventive (control during treatment, living at risk, age indications), then it would be nice to do such a study annually.

What does thyroid ultrasound show?

The normal thyroid gland usually has a volume of 18 ml in women and 25 ml in men. Of course, these sizes of the thyroid gland are not absolute and may fluctuate slightly. A specific conclusion about whether the size of the gland is normal is made by the doctor who performs the ultrasound procedure or the attending physician by the endocrinologist.

In addition to the size of the doctor, he is also interested in the state of the tissues of the gland. The normal thyroid gland has a uniform, uniform structure without foci and seals.

So, an ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland shows the size of the organ, its shape, borders, the presence of structural disorders (compaction, cysts, adenomas). An ultrasound machine is able to detect even the most minor changes or formations in the thyroid gland. Nodules or foci of 1-2 mm in size will no longer go unnoticed.

Ultrasound indicators of the thyroid gland are the length, width, height, which allow you to determine the volume of the organ. An important indicator is echogenicity, or rather the uniformity of this parameter. The heterogeneity of the gland structure also gives an uneven reflection of the ultrasound signal. That is, areas with different echogenicity show pathological changes in the tissues of the thyroid gland.

What can the interpretation of ultrasound of the thyroid gland show?

• The size of the gland.
• Uniformity or heterogeneity of its structure.
• The shape of the nodes.
• The presence of edema.

Now let’s see what an ultrasound examination reveals for various thyroid diseases.

• With diffuse toxic goiter during ultrasound, as a rule, only an increase in size is detected.
• With nodular goiter, the study will show each node as a focus of increased density, clearly delimited and different from healthy tissues.
• With thyroiditis, an ultrasound scan will reveal an increase in the volume of the gland and the presence of edema. In the case of an inflammatory process, cavities filled with fluid or pus will be detected.
• If a cyst has formed in the thyroid gland, then a rounded, fluid-filled formation with clear boundaries will be detected.
• Thyroid tumors can also be differentiated by ultrasound. Benign tumors look like foci of seals, delimited from surrounding tissues. Malignant – do not have clear boundaries, because cancerous tumors grow in the surrounding tissue. However, a malignant tumor is never definitively diagnosed without a biopsy. Only this analysis determines which cells any tumor consists of.

The ultrasound examination procedure itself is completely safe, painless and not burdensome for the patient. She does not require special training.