Ricerc@Sapienza

Disorders affecting parotid gland represent a heterogeneous group comprising congenital, inflammatory and neoplastic diseases which show a focal or diffuse pattern of appearance. The differentiation of neoplastic from non-neoplastic conditions of parotid glands is pivotal for the diagnostic imaging. Frequently there is evidence of overlapping between the clinical and the imaging appearance of the various pathologies. The parotid gland is also often object of study with the combination of different techniques [ultrasound-computed tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (US-CT-MRI), ex.].

Background: The present study was undertaken to systematically review the literature on the reliability of using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to assess thyroid nodules. To avoid the potential bias in studies using a cytological standard of reference, here we aimed to meta-analyze data from studies adopting histological diagnosis as the gold standard. Methods: A comprehensive literature exploration of PubMed and Scopus was conducted. The search was updated until June 2018 and references of the retrieved articles screened.