About 8% of people have any thyroid ailments. To make accurate diagnoses to doctors allows such a diagnostic method as ultrasound. This is a non-invasive, informative and safe study using ultrasound waves. Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg) can be taken at various medical institutions. One of them is the Northwest Endocrinology Center. It is famous for its specialists and modern equipment.
Ultrasound glands in a medical center
The Northwest Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg is the leading Russian medical institution in the field of detection and treatment of various diseases. Every day there are a huge number of diagnostic procedures using ultrasonic waves. In all studies, only modern equipment is involved. Thanks to the latest devices, even the smallest neoplasms are detected at the endocrinology center, serious diseases are diagnosed in the early stages.
Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg) in a leading medical institution is performed by highly qualified specialists. These are people with academic degrees, doctors with rich experience. During their medical practice, they performed several thousand diagnostic procedures, underwent an internship in well-known medical institutions in the USA and Europe.
In the center of endocrinology, you can undergo expert ultrasound. Its cost is 800 rubles. Such an ultrasound is performed by the best specialists of the medical center using high-class devices. Conducting a conventional ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg). The price is 600 rubles. This is an economical option for a diagnostic procedure. A conventional examination of the gland is carried out on modern devices by doctors of ultrasound diagnostics of the highest and first qualification categories.
Indications for examination
The study of the gland is prescribed to those people who have one or more of the following indications for the diagnosis:
- symptoms such as coughing without a cause, suffocation, increased nervousness;
- neoplasms found on the neck during examination and palpation;
- assessment of the effectiveness of treatment for identified thyroid diseases;
- suspicion of exacerbation of an existing ailment.
An examination of the thyroid gland (ultrasound) is also necessary when specialists take material from a pathologically altered organ. During this procedure, the movement of the puncture needle is controlled. Thanks to this observation, the risk of developing possible complications is eliminated.
Ultrasound examination
Many people going to the Northwestern Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg are wondering how an ultrasound scan of the gland is carried out in this medical institution. It is worth noting that you do not need to specially prepare for the examination. Diagnosis is carried out while lying on your back. A roller is placed under the neck, thanks to which the head is thrown back. This position provides the best visualization of the lower parts of the gland.
An ultrasound examination of an organ can also be carried out when a person sits with his head thrown back. Specialists recommend this position to patients coming to the ultrasound room if they have serious illnesses (bronchial asthma, acute heart failure).
Gland scanning is performed by a high-frequency sensor. It is installed above the trachea (perpendicular to it) a couple of centimeters above the sternal ends of the clavicles. Such a scan is called transverse. First, the isthmus is visualized by specialists, and then one of the lobes. After smooth movement, the isthmus and the opposite lobe of the gland are again evaluated. The next step is to perform research in the longitudinal plane. The sensor is installed parallel to the trachea and at an angle to it.
Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg), which is performed at the endocrinology center, allows you to find out important information:
- the location of the gland, its shape, contours, dimensions, echogenicity, echostructure;
- the presence of intraorgan changes, their localization, nature, number of formations;
- the relationship of the gland with those structures that surround it;
- the state of the regional zones of lymph outflow.
Anatomical features of the gland
The thyroid gland is one of the largest organs of internal secretion. It produces hormones such as thyroxine and thyrocalcitonin. The first of them is involved in the regulation of general metabolism in the body, contributes to the strengthening of nitrogen metabolism in the tissues. Calcitonin regulates calcium metabolism, has an effect on the formation of the skeleton.
The gland is located in the neck (under the larynx and in front of the trachea). In shape, it is similar to a butterfly. In the body, the right and left lobes are distinguished. They are separated by a narrow isthmus. Sometimes a pyramidal (additional) lobe of the gland is determined.
Ultrasonic characteristics of the organ
To make a correct diagnosis, you need to know what is the norm of the thyroid gland by ultrasound:
- This organ may have a normal location, but may be displaced. In the first version, iron is detected in the anterior neck from the thyroid cartilage to the supraclavicular region.
- The shape of the organ is ordinary or asymmetric. In the usual form of iron in cross sections, it resembles a curved dumbbell. She visualizes a narrow isthmus and two lobes.
- The contours of the gland are smooth and uneven, clear and fuzzy. They may be intermittent or not detected at all on echograms. Normally, the contours are visible.
- Echographic dimensions of the thyroid gland by ultrasound are individual. Normally, they vary widely. The thickness of the isthmus can be from 4 to 6 mm, the thickness of each of the lobes is from 16 to 18 mm, the width is from 13 to 18 mm, the length is from 40 to 60 mm. The volume of the organ in men ranges from 7.7 to 22.6 cubic meters. see In women, these values are less - from 4.55 to 19.32 cubic meters. cm.
- The echogenicity of the gland is normally higher than the echogenicity of those muscles that surround it. This is due to the structural features of the organ. The thyroid gland includes a huge number of follicles, inside of which there is fluid. As a result of this, about 95% of ultrasonic waves travel through the organ. Only 5% are reflected as echo signals.
- The echostructure of a healthy organ is homogeneous. It is characterized by a uniform distribution of reflections, which are the same in size and location.
Anomalies of the development of the organ
Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg), performed at the endocrinology center, often allows you to identify congenital malformations. One of them is hypoplasia (organ underdevelopment). This pathology on echograms is manifested by a decrease in the size of the gland or one of its shares.
Hemogenesis is also referred to anomalies of development. This term refers to the absence of one of the lobes of the gland. When conducting ultrasound, only half of the organ is visualized. The size of the existing share always exceeds normal values.
In the course of ultrasound, specialists sometimes discover additional lobes. It is impossible to name their specific localization, because they can have different locations. As a rule, additional shares are detected at a young age. In adults, they atrophy.
Often congenital malformations of the gland do not manifest any suspicious symptoms. Various pathologies in most cases turn out to be an accidental finding during an ultrasound examination.
Gland hyperplasia
If you need to undergo a diagnosis, you should contact the Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg. Here, using ultrasound waves, various diseases of the gland are diagnosed. The most frequently detected process in this organ is hyperplasia. This is a pathological condition in which there is an increase in the gland and a violation of its functions. When making a diagnosis, specialists use the following classification:
- an increase in size up to 30% - diffuse hyperplasia of I and II degrees;
- 30–50% enlargement of the thyroid gland — III degree (in such cases the term “diffuse goiter” is used);
- an increase of more than 50% - IV or more degrees of goiter.
At I and II degrees, during an ultrasound, specialists reveal not only an increase in the size and volume of the organ. Rounding of the poles of the lobes of the gland is also noted. The echostructure is homogeneous and fine-grained. It becomes different with the progression of the pathological process.
For diffuse goiter on echograms, the following ultrasonic signs are characteristic:
- organ enlargement of 30% or more;
- medium and coarse echostructure;
- the presence of anechoic and hypoechoic zones (these are areas of cystic degeneration);
- visualization of hyperechoic linear sections or zones of irregular shape (such a sign manifests itself in proliferation of connective tissue).
Thyroid gland
In the center of endocrinology, where every person can do an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, specialists sometimes diagnose thyroiditis. This concept combines various inflammatory diseases. All pathologies are based on autoimmune or other cytotoxic processes that occur simultaneously with the processes of degeneration, repair and regeneration of thyroid tissue.
With the help of ultrasound of the gland, it is impossible to determine the form of thyroiditis. Scanning is performed to evaluate disease progression. With cytotoxic processes, hypoechoic zones are enlarged. Thyroid echogenicity decreases. With positive dynamics, hypoechoic areas become smaller. Their quantity is also reduced. When thyroiditis subsides, the ultrasound picture does not differ from the norm.
Gland adenomas
This term refers to benign neoplasms that occur in the organ. Endocrinology center specialists quite often diagnose adenomas in people who come to the ultrasound room. These pathologies make up about 16.6–25.2% of all neoplasms removed during iron operations.
Adenomas are not characterized by any specific pathognomonic signs that can be detected during ultrasound of the thyroid gland. What does this study show with such pathologies? Neoplasms can be visualized in the form of hyper-, iso-and hypoechoic structures. In most cases, they turn out to be hyperechoic with a homogeneous structure. In adenomas, as a rule, a thick hypoechoic rim corresponding to edema of the surrounding parenchyma, histological capsule or its vessels is visualized.
To make an accurate diagnosis and if a malignant tumor is suspected, a patient undergoing examination at the endocrinology center is prescribed a biopsy. Only through cytological analysis of the materials taken can we distinguish benign cells from cancer cells.
Malignant tumors
At the endocrinology center, ultrasound and a fine needle aspiration biopsy can be used to diagnose cancer of the gland. This is a malignant tumor that originates from thyroid epithelial cells. This ailment is considered relatively rare.
Before considering the possible results of an ultrasound of the thyroid gland (which it shows), it is worth noting that the cancer of this organ is divided into papillary, follicular, medullary. With papillary cancer in 90% of cases, neoplasms are characterized by a hypoechoic structure. Anechoic and hyperechoic structure is extremely rare. In 85–90% of cases, microcalcifications up to 1 mm in size are detected. They are hyperechoic inclusions. Additional ultrasound signs are cystic cavities and metastases to the lymph nodes.
Ultrasound of the thyroid gland can sometimes suspect follicular cancer. This is a malignant process, considered the most difficult to diagnose. It develops from an existing adenoma. A malignant tumor is characterized by uneven contours, a wide peripheral rim, and signs of invasion of the surrounding muscle structures. Follicular cancer is not characterized by microcalcifications and metastases in the lymph nodes.
Medullary cancer comes from cells that produce calcitonin. The disease is characterized by an aggressive course. When conducting ultrasound in patients with patients, hypoechoic (in rare cases hyperechoic) structures with uneven contours and a hypoechoic rim of uneven thickness are detected. With medullary cancer , microcalcifications and metastases are often found that affect the lymphatic collector of the upper mediastinum and the chain of recurrent lymph nodes.
The Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg is a place where any disease can be diagnosed. Modern devices can detect even those pathologies that are difficult to detect. At the medical center, during an ultrasound scan of the gland, specialists examine neck lymph nodes and vocal folds for free. If necessary, a biopsy is suggested. The information obtained through all diagnostic procedures allows doctors to make accurate diagnoses.