Thyroid ultrasound - preparation, description of the procedure, interpretation of the results

2024 Author: Curtis Blomfield | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 20:44

Thyroid ultrasound is the safest, painless and effective method for diagnosing the structure, structure and location of the thyroid gland. The main thing is to pre-train for an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, realize its necessity and understand how the procedure proceeds so that the examination brings maximum benefit.

Why do I need an ultrasound of the thyroid gland

The thyroid gland is one of the most important organs that allows you to regulate the metabolism in our body, so a violation of its functioning can lead to the development of serious diseases. Therefore, you should constantly check its condition in order to identify the presence of problems in the early stages and immediately begin treatment of the disease. Moreover, 20% of the population of our planet have certain thyroid pathologies, and in some regions 50% of the population suffers from them, which is caused by negative environmental influences, iodine deficiency, infections, injuries, genetic predisposition and intoxication. And this means that it is better to visit an endocrinologist in a timely manner, to undergopreparation for ultrasound of the thyroid gland, fully examined and take all the necessary tests to be aware of the state of your he alth. After all, if you start problems with the thyroid gland, then this can later lead to diseases such as cancer, cysts, nodular or diffuse toxic goiter, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis.

Indications for examination

Before you start preparing for an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, let's figure out what symptoms should be the reason for an immediate appeal to an endocrinologist and referral for examination. After all, without a doctor's prescription, the procedure will not work. So, indications for thyroid ultrasound can be:

• appearance of seals in the neck;
• neck enlargement and swelling;
• age 40 and over;
• menstrual irregularities or reproductive problems;
• feeling of a constant "lump in the throat";
• presence of hereditary thyroid disease or diabetes;
• end of the course of taking hormone-containing drugs;
• constant increased apathy, drowsiness, irritability, nervousness, lethargy, weakness and eternal mood swings;
• sudden weight gain;
• sudden weight loss for no specific reason can also be a reason for an endocrinologist to prescribe an ultrasound of the thyroid gland;
• non-decreasing body temperature within 37-380C;
• permanent hand tremor;
• hair loss;
• the occurrence of suspicion of a tumor;
• cardiac arrhythmia.

The need for diagnostics for pregnant women

What should pregnant girls do? It is very important to diagnose the norm of the thyroid gland on ultrasound in women in an "interesting" position or who are just planning a pregnancy, so endocrinologists must send them to this type of examination. This is necessary in order to determine the level of iodine deficiency in the body and prevent the future mother from developing a miscarriage, premature birth, heart failure, high blood pressure, postpartum hemorrhage and severe blood loss, which can become life-threatening for a woman. But not only the mother can be harmed by disturbances in the functioning of the thyroid gland, it is also dangerous for the baby because he will develop the same iodine deficiency or thyroid disease. Therefore, it is so important to do an ultrasound before planning pregnancy and when it occurs, especially since it is completely safe for both mom and baby.

Benefits of doing research

In fact, there are a lot of different ways to diagnose the condition of the organ in question, however, it is ultrasound of the thyroid gland that has a number of advantages over them:

1. The examination is relatively inexpensive, so it is available to everyone without exception.
2. There is no need to think about where you can get an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, as this procedure is done in almost every medical center. For example, in Moscow it can bedo it at the Orange clinic medical center, located on Novoyasenevsky Prospekt at 13, building 2; at the "Miracle Doctor" clinic located at 11/3 Shkolnaya Street or at one of more than two hundred diagnostic centers.
3. The patient receives the results of the examination on the same day, so there is no need to wait for them for several days, but you can immediately go with them to the doctor to find out your diagnosis.
4. With ultrasound, ionizing radiation is completely absent, so this procedure is completely safe for he alth.
5. Ultrasound does not violate the integrity of the skin and is completely painless.
6. Even the slightest chance of infection is excluded.

Required frequency of the procedure

Many patients are concerned about the idea of how often to do an ultrasound of the thyroid gland in order to get the most accurate result from the examination and to detect problems in the thyroid gland in time. So, here it all depends on the presence of complaints in the patient, which may indicate the presence of thyroid diseases. If there are complaints, then it is better for patients to undergo examinations every six months. But even if the disturbing symptoms are completely absent, it does not hurt to get checked once a year, because a number of diseases associated with the work of the thyroid gland are completely asymptomatic. And if laboratory or clinical studies have shown an alarming result, then the frequency of ultrasound can be increased up to 3-4 times every six months, in order tobased on the results of the procedure, the doctor could see the dynamics of the disease and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

Preparation for thyroid ultrasound

In order for the results of the examination to be as accurate as possible, it is very important to prepare for the procedure before coming to the procedure. Actually, there is nothing complicated there and the examination does not require special preparation, since the thyroid gland is located in a very convenient place. However, if you want to get the most complete information, it is better to follow some rules:

1. When repeating the procedure, be sure to take the results of the previous ultrasound with you.
2. Three days before the ultrasound, you should completely exclude alcohol from your diet.
3. Medications that affect blood pressure or cardiac output should not be taken on the day of the procedure.
4. It is recommended for small children and the elderly to do the procedure on an empty stomach, as pressure on the neck may cause them to vomit.

Survey process

Now that we've figured out how to prepare for a thyroid ultrasound, let's take a look at how the procedure goes. The entire examination takes only 15 minutes. First of all, the patient lies down on a comfortable couch and tilts his head back to fully access his neck. Naturally, for this it is better to wear clothes with a cutout or a shirt or blouse that can be unbuttoned. Then the uzist will apply onthe front of the neck a small amount of hydrogel, which will contribute to better gliding and passage of ultrasound. Next, he will pick up the sensor and drive it along the neck, simultaneously viewing in real time the image of the thyroid gland projected on the display of the ultrasound machine. At the same time, the patient does not feel any discomfort, except that he may experience slight discomfort due to the uncomfortable position of the neck and head. And after the study, all that remains is to wipe off the remains of the gel with a towel previously brought from home, pick up a printout of the ultrasound results and go to the endocrinologist so that he deciphers them and makes a diagnosis.

Research results

Despite the fact that only a doctor can decipher the indications of an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, patients should be aware of what data can be obtained from the results of an ultrasound examination:

1. The location of the gland may be typical or aberrant, indicating the presence of pathologies.
2. The structure of the thyroid gland suggests the presence of an isthmus between the two lobes, however, on the ultrasound printout, you can also notice the formation of additional lobes or tissue outgrowths. In addition, such a pathology is possible, due to which the thyroid gland will consist of only one lobe.
3. The contours of the gland allow diagnosing the development of a tumor or inflammatory process.
4. Nodes on the thyroid gland should be absent, and if they are, then they should be characterized in order to make a correct diagnosis.
5. Sizethyroid gland allows you to diagnose hypoplasia and hyperplasia of tissues, which is carried out by measuring the thickness of the isthmus.
6. The structure of the gland should be homogeneous with a certain type of granularity.
7. On the screen of the ultrasound machine, you can determine the echogenicity of the thyroid gland by the contrast of its color.
8. If the thyroid gland has some kind of pathology, then on the decoding of the examination it will be possible to see focal formations on it like cysts, nodes or calcifications.

Norm in the thyroid ultrasound protocol

Now that we know everything about preparing for a thyroid ultrasound and the procedure itself, let's figure out which results of this study are normal:

1. Echogenic density should be moderate.
2. The structure of the gland should be homogeneous.
3. The edges of the thyroid gland should be smooth and without the slightest tubercles.
4. Shares should be of the same size, in ideal condition their cross-sectional and longitudinal section should be in the range of 40-60 mm in length, 12-18 mm in width, and 15-18 mm in thickness.
5. Optimally, the volume of the thyroid gland should directly depend on the patient's weight, so for the average man it is 20 cm³, and for the average woman it is 16.5 cm 3^{. But, since a person's weight can be less or more than average, then usually the volume of the thyroid gland is in the range of 15-33 cm}3^.
6. For the rest of the parameters, the transcript of the survey should indicate thatseals were not found, the lymph nodes were not enlarged, and the size of the parathyroid glands was 445 mm.

Knots on the thyroid gland

Separately, we should talk about the nodes that appear on the thyroid gland, which, in the normal state of the organ, should not be. If the doctor finds these nodes, then he will immediately draw up his most detailed description, which will include such parameters of the nodes as:

• clearness of their contours;
• absence or presence of a specific halo rim located on the periphery of the node;
• the degree of echogenicity of the node, allowing it to be classified as isoechoic, hypoechoic, hyperechoic or anechoic;
• absence or presence of calcification foci, depending on the acoustic shadow seen on the ultrasound machine;
• absence or presence of cystic transformation.

Additional examinations to confirm the diagnosis

Having learned everything about preparing for an ultrasound scan of the thyroid gland, the procedure itself and the results of the study, it should be remembered that the data obtained from this examination is sometimes not enough for an accurate diagnosis. Therefore, after the ultrasound, the doctor may refer the patient to undergo some more procedures:

1. You will need to take a blood test and conduct a complete laboratory and hormonal study.
2. If there are nodes, you will have to undergo color mapping and dopplerography to conduct their deep diagnosis.
3. If there are hints of a tumor, you will need to take a puncture underultrasound control to determine whether it is benign or malignant.

We looked at how thyroid ultrasound is performed and how to prepare for the procedure, and also got acquainted with the nuances of this type of diagnosis.