Objective:To evaluate the value of ultrasound radiomics combined with machine learning for early diagnosis of seronegative Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (SN-HT) .Methods:This retrospective study included 164 patients from Liaoning Provincial People’s Hospital , Lixin County People’s Hospital, Linghai Dalinghe Hospital, Fengcheng Phoenix Hospital, who underwent thyroidectomy for solitary nodules with normal thyroid function between Nov. 2016 and Jan. 2024. Postoperative pathology confirmed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) in some cases, who were further categorized into antibody-positive and antibody-negative groups based on serum antibody status. Patients without Hashimoto’s thyroiditis served as the control group. A total of 298 ultrasound images were analyzed. Radiomics features were extracted from hypoechoic non-nodular areas within 0.5 cm surrounding the tumor. Two senior pathologists and two senior ultrasound physicians independently assessed lymphocytic infiltration, eosinophilic changes of follicular epithelium, and the proportion of hypoechoic areas in pathology and ultrasound images, respectively. A machine learning model, CCH-NET, was developed using linear regression and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) techniques. The dataset was divided into a training set (80%) and a validation set (20%) to compare the diagnostic accuracy of CCH-NET with that of senior ultrasound physicians. Results:In internal validation, CCH-NET achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 88.89% for both antibody-positive and antibody-negative groups, significantly higher than the 66.67% accuracy of senior ultrasound physicians ( P<0.01). In external validation, CCH-NET achieved 75.00% and 66.67% accuracy for the two groups, compared to 50.00% by senior ultrasound physicians. For the control group, both methods achieved 93.33% accuracy. The AUC of CCH-NET was 0.848, outperforming senior ultrasound physicians (0.681) ,demonstrating superior diagnostic performance. Conclusion:The radiomics-based CCH-NET model, using non-nodular hypoechoic areas as a specific indicator, can accurately identify early SN-HT in euthyroid patients. It significantly outperforms senior ultrasound physicians, improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing missed diagnoses.

Objective:To evaluate the value of ultrasound radiomics combined with machine learning for early diagnosis of seronegative Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (SN-HT) .Methods:This retrospective study included 164 patients from Liaoning Provincial People’s Hospital , Lixin County People’s Hospital, Linghai Dalinghe Hospital, Fengcheng Phoenix Hospital, who underwent thyroidectomy for solitary nodules with normal thyroid function between Nov. 2016 and Jan. 2024. Postoperative pathology confirmed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) in some cases, who were further categorized into antibody-positive and antibody-negative groups based on serum antibody status. Patients without Hashimoto’s thyroiditis served as the control group. A total of 298 ultrasound images were analyzed. Radiomics features were extracted from hypoechoic non-nodular areas within 0.5 cm surrounding the tumor. Two senior pathologists and two senior ultrasound physicians independently assessed lymphocytic infiltration, eosinophilic changes of follicular epithelium, and the proportion of hypoechoic areas in pathology and ultrasound images, respectively. A machine learning model, CCH-NET, was developed using linear regression and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) techniques. The dataset was divided into a training set (80%) and a validation set (20%) to compare the diagnostic accuracy of CCH-NET with that of senior ultrasound physicians. Results:In internal validation, CCH-NET achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 88.89% for both antibody-positive and antibody-negative groups, significantly higher than the 66.67% accuracy of senior ultrasound physicians ( P<0.01). In external validation, CCH-NET achieved 75.00% and 66.67% accuracy for the two groups, compared to 50.00% by senior ultrasound physicians. For the control group, both methods achieved 93.33% accuracy. The AUC of CCH-NET was 0.848, outperforming senior ultrasound physicians (0.681) ,demonstrating superior diagnostic performance. Conclusion:The radiomics-based CCH-NET model, using non-nodular hypoechoic areas as a specific indicator, can accurately identify early SN-HT in euthyroid patients. It significantly outperforms senior ultrasound physicians, improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing missed diagnoses.

OBJECTIVE To explore the expressions of eosinophilic chemotactic factor 11(CCL11),leukotriene B4(LTB4),percentage of neutrophils(NEUT％)and C-reactive protein(CRP)in peripheral blood of the children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP)infection complicated with plastic bronchitis and analyze the clinical signifi-cance.METHODS A total of 80 children with MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis who were trea-ted in the Second Hospital of Longyan City,Fujian Province from Jan.2020 to Dec.2023 were assigned as the study group,and 115 patients with MP pneumonia were chosen as the control group.The clinical data,manifesta-tions and Pediatric Risk of Mortality Ⅲ(PRISM Ⅲ)score were statistically analyzed.The levels of peripheral blood CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP were observed and compared between the two groups.Pearson analysis was performed for the associations of the levels of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP with the PRISM Ⅲscore.The value of the joint detection of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP in diagnosis of the MP pneumoni-a-induced plastic bronchitis was analyzed.RESULTS There were significant differences in reduction of bronchial breathing sound,pleural effusion and PRISM Ⅲ score between the two groups(P＜0.05).There were significant differences in the levels of peripheral blood CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP between the study group and the control group(P＜0.05);the CRP level of the study group was(29.42±8.14)mg/L,higher than that of the control group(t=10.138,P＜0.001).The levels of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP were positively correlated with the PRISM Ⅲ score(r=0.723,0.710,0.771,0.754,respectively,all P＜0.001).The area under the curve(AUC)of the single detection of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP was remarkably higher in diagnosis of MP pneumonia-induced plastic bronchitis than that of the joint detection of the four markers(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The children with MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis show increased expressions of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP.The four markers are positively correlated with the PRISM Ⅲ score.The four markers have high values in diagnosis of the MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the expressions of eosinophilic chemotactic factor 11(CCL11),leukotriene B4(LTB4),percentage of neutrophils(NEUT％)and C-reactive protein(CRP)in peripheral blood of the children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP)infection complicated with plastic bronchitis and analyze the clinical signifi-cance.METHODS A total of 80 children with MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis who were trea-ted in the Second Hospital of Longyan City,Fujian Province from Jan.2020 to Dec.2023 were assigned as the study group,and 115 patients with MP pneumonia were chosen as the control group.The clinical data,manifesta-tions and Pediatric Risk of Mortality Ⅲ(PRISM Ⅲ)score were statistically analyzed.The levels of peripheral blood CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP were observed and compared between the two groups.Pearson analysis was performed for the associations of the levels of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP with the PRISM Ⅲscore.The value of the joint detection of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP in diagnosis of the MP pneumoni-a-induced plastic bronchitis was analyzed.RESULTS There were significant differences in reduction of bronchial breathing sound,pleural effusion and PRISM Ⅲ score between the two groups(P＜0.05).There were significant differences in the levels of peripheral blood CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP between the study group and the control group(P＜0.05);the CRP level of the study group was(29.42±8.14)mg/L,higher than that of the control group(t=10.138,P＜0.001).The levels of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP were positively correlated with the PRISM Ⅲ score(r=0.723,0.710,0.771,0.754,respectively,all P＜0.001).The area under the curve(AUC)of the single detection of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP was remarkably higher in diagnosis of MP pneumonia-induced plastic bronchitis than that of the joint detection of the four markers(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The children with MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis show increased expressions of CCL11,LTB4,NEUT％and CRP.The four markers are positively correlated with the PRISM Ⅲ score.The four markers have high values in diagnosis of the MP pneumonia complicated with plastic bronchitis.