Objective: Thyroid elastography has recently become one of the main techniques of thyroid imaging. During pregnancy, physiological or pathophysiological changes occur with the effect of different hormones. In this study, we investigated the thyroid gland elasticity findings of pregnant women.

Material and Method: The study was carried out with 192 pregnant women and 66 healthy control group. All participants were first evaluated by thyroid US and then thyroid elastography was performed. Two separate ROIs in the range of 3-7 mm2 were placed in the thyroid tissue and strep muscle. Measurements were made twice for the right and left thyroid tissue, and the mean values were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) values were 1.84±0.92 mIU/L for the normal group and 1.38±0.91 mIU/L for the pregnant women group and were lower in pregnant women (p =0.001). The elastography values of the control group were calculated as 1.17±0.62 for the right lobe, 1.04±0.43 for the left lobe, and 1.11±0.42 for the mean of both lobes. The values in the pregnant group were 1.80±1.18 for the right lobe, 1.58±0.97 for the left lobe and 1.69±0.89 for the mean of both lobes, and all values were higher than the control group (p <0.001). There was a borderline inverse correlation between β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) values and TSH values (p =0.053). No significant correlation was found in the comparison of β-hCG and strain elastography (SE).

Conclusion: In our study, we found that there is a significant decrease in thyroid elasticity during pregnancy, with or without a disorder in thyroid functions.