Ultrasound of the thyroid gland: St. Petersburg, North-West Endocrinology Center

Some ailments associated with the thyroid gland, there are about 8% of people. To put accurate diagnoses to doctors allows such a diagnostic method as ultrasound. This is a non-invasive, informative and safe study conducted with the use of ultrasonic waves. Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg) can be passed in various medical institutions. One of them is the North-West Endocrinology Center. It is famous for its specialists and modern equipment.

Ultrasound of the gland in the medical center

The North-West Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg is the leading Russian medical institution in the field of detection and treatment of various diseases. A huge number of diagnostic procedures with ultrasonic waves are performed daily. In all studies, only modern equipment is involved. Thanks to the latest devices in the center of endocrinology, even the smallest neoplasms are detected, serious diseases are diagnosed at early stages.

Thyroid ultrasound (St. Petersburg) in a leading medical institution is performed by highly qualified specialists. These are people with academic degrees, doctors with rich experience. For their medical practice, they conducted several thousand diagnostic procedures, completed training at renowned medical institutions in the US and Europe.

In the center of endocrinology it is possible to undergo expert ultrasound examination. Its cost is 800 rubles. Such ultrasound is performed by the best specialists of the medical center with the use of high-end instruments. It is possible to conduct an ordinary ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg). The price is 600 rubles. This is an economical variant of the diagnostic procedure. Usual examination of the gland is performed on modern apparatus by doctors of ultrasound diagnostics of the highest and first qualification categories.

Indications for examination

The examination of the gland is assigned to those people who have one or several of the following indications for the diagnosis:

• Such symptoms as a cough that occurs without a cause, suffocation, increased nervousness;
• Neoplasms found on the neck during examination and palpation;
• Assessment of the effectiveness of treatment performed with diagnosed thyroid diseases;
• Suspected exacerbation of the existing ailment.

Thyroid examination (ultrasound) is also necessary when specialists take material from a pathologically altered organ. During this procedure, the movement of the puncture needle is monitored. Due to such an observation, the risk of possible complications is excluded.

Carrying out of ultrasonic research

Many people going to the North-West Endocrinology Center in St. Petersburg, are thinking about how this medical institution carries out ultrasound of the gland. It is worth noting that you do not need to specially prepare for the survey. Diagnosis is carried out in the supine position. Under the neck is placed a roller, due to which the head is thrown back. This position ensures the best visualization of the lower parts of the gland.

The examination of the organ with the help of ultrasound can be carried out also when the person sits with the head thrown back. Such a situation experts recommend taking patients who come to the office of ultrasound in case they have serious diseases (bronchial asthma, acute heart failure).

Scanning of the gland is performed by a high-frequency sensor. It is placed above the trachea (perpendicular to it) a couple of centimeters above the sternal ends of the clavicles. This scan is called transverse. First, specialists visualize the isthmus, and then - one of the shares. After a smooth movement, the isthmus and the opposite lobe of the gland are evaluated again. The next step is to carry out the investigation 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 held in the center of endocrinology, allows you to learn important information:

• The location of the gland, its shape, contours, dimensions, echogenicity, echostructure;
• Presence of internal changes, their localization, character, number of formations;
• The relationship of the gland with those structures that surround it;
• State of regional lymphatic drainage zones.

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 participates in the regulation of the total metabolism in the body, contributes to the enhancement of nitrogen metabolism in tissues. Thyreocalcitonin regulates calcium metabolism, it affects the formation of the skeleton.

The gland is located in the neck (under the larynx and in front of the trachea). In form, it is similar to a butterfly. In the organ, the right and left lobes are allocated. They share a narrow isthmus. Sometimes the pyramidal (additional) portion of the gland is determined.

Ultrasonic characteristics of the organ

To make the correct diagnosis, you need to know what the thyroid gland norm is by ultrasound:

1. This organ may have a normal arrangement, or it may be biased. At the first variant of iron it is revealed in the anterior sections of the neck from the thyroid cartilage to the supraclavicular area.
2. The form of the organ is usual or asymmetrical. At usual form of iron on cross-sections reminds the curved dumbbell. It has a narrow isthmus and two lobes.
3. The contours of the gland are even and uneven, clear and fuzzy. They can be intermittent or not at all determined by echograms. Normally, the outlines are visible.
4. 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 shares is from 16 to 18 mm, width - from 13 to 18 mm, length - from 40 to 60 mm. The volume of the organ in men ranges from 7.7 to 22.6 cu. See In women, these values are less - from 4.55 to 19.32 cu. cm.
5. The echogenicity of the gland is normally higher than the echogenicity of those muscles that surround it. This is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the organ. The thyroid gland includes a huge number of follicles, inside of which there is liquid. As a result, about 95% of ultrasonic waves pass through the organ. Only 5% are reflected in the form of echoes.
6. 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 in organ development

Ultrasound of the thyroid gland (St. Petersburg), performed in the center of endocrinology, often allows to identify congenital anomalies of development. One of them is hypoplasia (underdevelopment of the body). This pathology on the echogram is manifested by a decrease in the size of the gland or one of its lobes.

To the anomalies of development also include hemigenesis. This term is understood as the absence of one of the lobes of the gland. When performing ultrasound, only half of the organ is visualized. The size of the available share always exceeds the normal values.

In the course of ultrasound, specialists sometimes find additional shares. It is impossible to name their specific location, 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 show any suspicious symptoms. Various pathologies in most cases are an accidental finding during the ultrasound.

Hyperplasia of the gland

If it is necessary to pass the diagnosis, you should contact the endocrinology center in St. Petersburg. Here with the help of ultrasonic waves various diseases of the gland are diagnosed. The most commonly 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:

• Increase in size to 30% - diffuse hyperplasia of I and II degrees;
• An increase in the thyroid gland by 30-50% - grade III (in such cases the term "diffuse goiter" is used);
• Increase of more than 50% - IV and more degrees of goiter.

At I and II degrees during the ultrasound examination, specialists reveal not only an increase in the size and volume of the organ. There is also a rounding of the poles of the lobes of the gland. The ehostruktura is homogeneous and fine-grained. It becomes different when the pathological process progresses.

For diffuse goiter on the echogram, the following ultrasound signs are characteristic:

• Increase in organ by 30% or more;
• Medium and coarse echostructure;
• Presence anehogennyh and gipoehogennyh zones (these are sites of cystic degeneration);
• Visualization of hyperechoic linear regions or irregularly shaped zones (this sign shows the proliferation of connective tissue).

Thyroiditis of the gland

In the center of endocrinology, where the ultrasound of the thyroid gland can be done by everyone, specialists sometimes diagnose thyroiditis. This concept combines various inflammatory diseases. At the heart of all pathologies are autoimmune or other cytotoxic processes that simultaneously occur with the processes of degeneration, repair and regeneration of thyroid tissue.

Using the ultrasound of the gland, it is impossible to determine the shape of thyroiditis. Scanning is performed to assess the progression of diseases. In cytotoxic processes, hypoechoic zones are enlarged. Echogenicity of the thyroid gland is reduced. With positive dynamics, hypoechoic sites become smaller. Their number is also decreasing. When the thyroiditis subsides, the ultrasound picture does not differ from the norm.

Adenoma of the gland

This term denotes benign neoplasms arising in the organ. Specialists of the Endocrinology Center often diagnose adenomas in people coming to the ultrasound examination room. These pathologies account for about 16.6-25.2% of all neoplasms removed during surgery on the gland.

Adenomas are not characterized by any specific pathognomonic signs that can be detected during the ultrasound of the thyroid gland. What does this study show in such pathologies? Neoplasms can be visualized as hyper, iso-and hypoechoic structures. In most cases, they are hyperechoic with a homogeneous structure. In adenomas, as a rule, a thick hypoechogenic rim is visualized, corresponding to the edema of the surrounding parenchyma, the histological capsule or its vessels.

To establish an accurate diagnosis and suspect a malignant tumor, patients undergoing examination at the endocrinology center receive a biopsy. Only due to the cytological analysis of the taken materials can one distinguish benign cells from cancerous ones.

Malignant tumors

In the center of endocrinology with the help of ultrasound and fine needle aspiration biopsy can be diagnosed cancer of the gland. It is a tumor of a malignant nature that comes from the cells of the thyroid epithelium. This ailment is considered relatively rare.

Before considering the possible results of 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. Very rarely found anehogennaya and hyperechoic structure. In 85-90% of cases, microcalcinates up to 1 mm in size are detected. They are hyperechoic inclusions. Additional ultrasound signs are cystic cavities and metastases to the lymph nodes.

The results of a thyroid ultrasound sometimes allow one to suspect a follicular cancer. It is a malignant process, considered the most difficult to diagnose. It develops from an existing adenoma. Malignant tumors are characterized by uneven contours, a wide peripheral rim, signs of invasion of surrounding muscular structures. Follicular cancer is not inherent in microcalcinates and metastases in the lymph nodes.

Medullary cancer occurs from cells that produce calcitonin. The disease is characterized by an aggressive course. When performing ultrasound, patients with hypoechoic (in rare cases, hyperechoic) structures with uneven contours and a hypoechoic rim of uneven thickness are found in patients. In medullary cancer, microcalcinates and metastases are often found that affect the lymphatic reservoir of the upper mediastinum and a chain of recurrent lymph nodes.

The endocrinology center in St. Petersburg is the place where any disease can be diagnosed. Modern instruments can detect even those pathologies that are difficult to detect. In the medical center during the ultrasound of the gland specialists free of charge examine the lymph nodes of the neck and the vocal folds. If necessary, a biopsy is suggested. Information obtained through all diagnostic procedures allows doctors to put accurate diagnoses.