title: [What are the alternative criteria for fine needle aspiration biopsy of a thyroid nodule?].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the clinical and paraclinical factors of thyroid nodule malignancy (in absence of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy data).
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study was conducted on a cohort of 282 patients admitted for management of a thyroid nodule disease. All patients had undergone surgery and the specimen had been analyzed anatomically and pathologically. Forty-four patients had malignant disease. Epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical data, as well as the anatomical and pathological characteristics of the specimen were collected for each patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We showed that the epidemiological data (sex and age), the nodule's characteristics (consistency, irregularities of the edges and fixity to underlying structures, and size), the presence of adenopathies, signs of compression, and the presence of calcifications were the predictability criteria of malignant disease. However, the scintigraphic aspect, the echostructure, and the hormonal status were not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study underscores that a relevant clinical and paraclinical analysis remains highly contributive in the presurgical identification of factors predictive of malignancy of a thyroid nodule, notably in countries where technological tools are not always available.
authors.affiliation: Service de médecine nucléaire, hôpital Sahloul, route de la Ceinture, cité Sahloul, 4054 Sousse, Tunisie. sfarraja@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sfar
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lahmar
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Driss
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Essabbah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*