Shear Wave Elastography and ACR- TIRADS Classification in the Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study with FNAC Correlation

Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) is a relatively advanced imaging modality that is not yet widely available across all medical colleges and hospitals in India. It is typically found only in high-end ultrasound machines, limiting its widespread clinical use. Given that our department is equipped with this advanced technology, this study presents a valuable opportunity to utilize the available resources effectively and contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting its role in thyroid nodule characterization.

There are limited studies evaluating the use of Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) in conjunction with TIRADS for improving the clinical assessment and risk stratification of thyroid nodules, particularly in resource-limited settings and among diverse ethnic and clinical populations like those in our country.

Most of the studies (e.g., Gao et al., Celletti et al., Baz et al.) are retrospective which may introduce selection and reporting bias. This limits the external validity of their findings. This study would avoid such bias due its prospective nature.