The Relationship between the Feature of Thyroid Calcification and Thyroid Papillary Cancer

Lee, Nam Hoon; Choi, Hyun Jin; Huh, Seh Hyung; Lee, Chang Hee; Jin, Sung Min; Lee, Sang Hyuk

Abstract

BACKGRAOUND AND OBJECTIVES: Thyroid calcification is widely known as a highly specific sign of malignancy. However, there are few studies on the correlation between the calcification and papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The aim of this study was to describe the features of calcification in thyroid mass, and determine the relationship between thyroid calcification and PTC.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Patients (116) who underwent surgery for thyroid mass during the period of March 2006 to December 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Each patient underwent preoperative sonography (n=96) and computed tomography (CT)(n=110) to evaluate the thyroid lesion. We subdivided the calcification according to characteristic features and compared the pathologic results. The association between the type of calcification and PTC was verified through the Chi-square test or likelihood ratio.
RESULTS
Of 96 patients who underwent sonography, 41 (42.7%) had calcification, of which 23 had microcalcificaiton, 15 had focal calcification, and three had rim calcification. Of 41 calcified lesions, 34 (82.9%) were PTC. Incidence of cancer from thyroid which had no calcified lesion was 30.9%. Three (6.7%) of 45 benign lesions had microcalcification, and 20 (39.2%) of 51 were PTC. We found statistically significant correlation between the presence of calcification, especially microcalcification, on sonography and PTC. Thirty of 110 patients (27.3%) who underwent neck CT had calcification, and among them, 20 patients (66.7%) were diagnosed as PTC. There was no statistical significance in relationship between calcification on CT and malignancy.
CONCLUSION
This study suggests that microcalcification which is shown by sonography were more specific for PTC than other calcified lesions.