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. 2015 Mar-Apr;39(2):240-3.
doi: 10.1097/RCT.0000000000000196.

Computed tomography appearance of normal nonossified thyroid cartilage: implication for tumor invasion diagnosis

Nazanin Dadfar  1 , Mohammad Seyyedi, Reza Forghani, Hugh D Curtin
Affiliations

Computed tomography appearance of normal nonossified thyroid cartilage: implication for tumor invasion diagnosis

Nazanin Dadfar et al. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2015 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the density and homogeneity of the nonossified thyroid cartilage (NOTC) on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) providing preliminary information for future evaluation of cartilage invasion using dual-energy CT.

Methods: One hundred normal-larynx CT scans were evaluated for the density and homogeneity of NOTC.

Results: The density of the NOTC was homogeneous in all cases. Nonossified thyroid cartilage had higher mean density than contiguous muscle, but there was overlap. In 47 cases, a lucent area was observed at the junction of the ossified and NOTC but not within the NOTC itself. In 11 cases, ossification was observed in only 1 cortex of the thyroid cartilage. Cartilage at the anterior commissure was not ossified in 7 cases.

Conclusions: Nonossified thyroid cartilage has a homogeneous appearance on contrast-enhanced CT scans, but showed some normal variations that could be mistakenly reported as tumor invasion.

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