What is a thyroid ultrasonography?

Ultrasonography is a painless process that uses sound waves to create images of your body. It is used to examine the diseases of the thyroid gland listed below.

• Cyst
• Nodules
• Tumours
• Goiter (growth of the thyroid gland)
• Acute/subacute thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland)
• Autoimmune thyroiditis

When is thyroid ultrasonography recommended?

If your thyroid function test is abnormal (a thyroid gland that works too less or too much) or your doctor feels a growth in your thyroid during a neck exam, thyroid ultrasonography may be ordered.

If your doctor needs a biopsy from your thyroid or surrounding tissues, ultrasonography can be used as a guide.

How does thyroid ultrasonography help with diagnosis?

Ultrasonography can give many valuable information about the thyroid gland:

• Thyroid gland dimensions
• Distinguishing a palpable nodule from cystic or solid
• Number of nodules
• Location of nodules
• Whether the nodules have clear boundaries or not
• Information about the blood supply of nodules

Follow-up after thyroid ultrasonography

If the thyroid gland is normal in ultrasonography, you may not need any additional examination.

If you have thyroid gland diseases in your family, your doctor may order thyroid ultrasonography at a more frequent interval to detect thyroid-related symptoms early.

If abnormalities are detected on your ultrasonography, your doctor may order additional tests to narrow down the causes that may be causing these abnormalities. If you have unsuspecting cysts or nodules, an ultrasonography every 6 months is enough. In the event of a suspected nodule detection, your doctor may recommend a fine needle aspiration biopsy accompanied by an ultrasonography. If the biopsy reveals the presence of a cancer, your doctor may recommend surgery to treat it.

Ultrasonography is a quick, painless procedure that helps to detect the early stages of cancer. If you have thyroid problems in your family or are concerned about a possible thyroid disease, contact your doctor for an ultrasound scan.