Abstract: 〔Abstract〕Objective: To explore the correlation between ultrasound-detected calcification in thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of ultrasonic images of thyroid nodules of 229 patients with thyroid cancer hospitalized
in the People's Hospital of Yuxi from Jan. 2010 to Oct. 2017, and applied the same criteria to evaluate whether there were ultrasound
calcifications in thyroid nodules and analyzed the features of calcification. Results: Ultrasound calcifications were detected in 147
（64.19%）of all cancerous nodules, while in 82 of the 229（35.81%）nodules no ultrasound calcifications were found. The differences
between the two groups of data were statistically significant（P＜0.05）. Among the patients with ultrasound calcifications the incidence
of micro- calcifications was 95.92%（141/147）, which was clearly higher than the incidence of coarse calcifications and ring
calcifications of 4.08%（6/147）. There was statistically significant difference（P＜0.05）. Conclusion: There is a great clinical value
in diagnosing thyroid cancer by detecting ultrasound micro-calcifications in thyroid nodules. But the risk of malignant nodules in
coarse calcifications and ring calcifications is still high. Thus, in order to promote accurate diagnosis, FNA should be performed on the
ultrasonographically suspicious nodules if necessary.

Key words: 〔Key words〕ultrasound diagnosis, calcification in thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, correlation