Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jun 28, 2025; 17(6): 107315
Published online Jun 28, 2025. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v17.i6.107315
Value of two-dimensional shear wave elastography quantitative analysis for evaluation of thyroid function in first trimester pregnancy
Hui-Ping Zhang, Miao-Ling Chen, Jie Zou, Yu-Qing Zhou
Hui-Ping Zhang, Miao-Ling Chen, Jie Zou, Yu-Qing Zhou, Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200050, China
Author contributions: Zhang HP wrote the manuscript and all the other authors edited the manuscript; Zhang HP and Zhou YQ designed the study and performed the statistical analysis; Chen ML performed the ultrasound examination; Zou J collected data; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, No. 22ZR1458200; Medical Ph.D Innovative Talent Base Project of Changning District, No. RCJD2021B09; Key Specialty of Changning District, No. 20231004; and Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital Start-Up Project, No. 2020Y-14.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital, approval No. CNFBLLKT-2020011.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at Clinical Hospital Center Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital’ trial registry. The registration identification, approval No. ChiCTR2300071241.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from each patient before ultrasound examination.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Qing Zhou, MD, Professor, Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital, East China Normal University, No. 786 Yuyuan Road, Shanghai 200050, China. doczhou@qq.com
Received: April 8, 2025
Revised: April 27, 2025
Accepted: June 7, 2025
Published online: June 28, 2025
Processing time: 79 Days and 2.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy is an important disease affecting the health of mothers and children. Two-dimensional (2D) shear wave elastography (SWE) is the newest ultrasonic elastography technology and its value in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules has been widely recognized. However, the value of 2D SWE in evaluating and predicting thyroid function is unclear.

AIM

To explore prospectively the value of 2D SWE quantitative analysis for the evaluation of thyroid function in the first trimester.

METHODS

We included outpatients of reproductive age in the Department of Gynecology in Shanghai Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital between March 2023 and March 2024 who had conventional ultrasound examination and 2D SWE of the thyroid. They also underwent transvaginal ultrasound examination to confirm early intrauterine pregnancy and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level was measured. The patients were divided into pregnant with normal TSH, pregnant with abnormal TSH, and nonpregnant with normal TSH. Conventional ultrasound and 2D SWE results were compared among the three groups.

RESULTS

A total of 108 patients were included in the study; 57 in the pregnant with normal TSH group, 18 in the pregnant with abnormal TSH group and 33 were in the nonpregnant with normal TSH group. Thyroid size, thyroid echotexture, 2D SWE quantitative parameters including mean elasticity in the region of interest and maximal elasticity in the region of interest showed no significant differences among the three groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Conventional ultrasound and 2D SWE features could not reflect the level of serum TSH.

Keywords: Ultrasound; Pregnancy; Thyroid dysfunction; Shear wave elastography; Thyroid stimulating hormone

Core Tip: Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D SWE) is very useful in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules. However, its value in evaluating and predicting thyroid function is unclear. We prospectively compared conventional ultrasound and 2D SWE results of thyroid in pregnant women with normal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), pregnant with abnormal TSH, and nonpregnant with normal TSH. Our results showed that thyroid size, thyroid echotexture, 2D SWE quantitative parameters including mean elasticity and maximal elasticity showed no significant differences among the three groups. 2D SWE features could not reflect serum TSH level and be unsuitable for monitoring thyroid function.