Is pattern III as evidenced by US color-Doppler useful in predicting thyroid nodule malignancy? Large-scale retrospective analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether pattern III of color Doppler Ultra-sound may identify malignant nodules.


METHODS
We have retrospectively analyzed data pertaining to 1090 patients of both genders (230 males, 860 females), with an average age of 53 years (min 17 years, max 81 years), who underwent thyroidectomy in Department of Surgical Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome since January 2003 through June 2009. We correlated color-Doppler characteristics and histological features through statistical analysis so as to verify statistical correlation between them.


RESULTS
Our study showed that 164/273 (60.1%) patients with malignant disease were associated with vascularization pattern III. Regarding benign disease, 152/268 (56.7%) patients showed a pattern of vascularization 3 at ultrasonography. The statistical analysis was not able to show any correlation between pattern III and malignancy.


CONCLUSIONS
Pattern III cannot be used to predict malignancy with confidence, and FNA is still mandatory to rule out the nature of the nodule.
Cantisani
V
V
Department of Radiological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Catania
A
A
De Antoni
E
E
Greco
R
R
Caruso
R
R
Di Segni
M
M
Medvedyeva
E
E
Maldur
V
V
Guerrisi
I
I
Kyriacou
K A
KA
Passariello
R
R
Carbotta
G
G
Giusti
D M
DM
Guaitoli
E
E
Garkavaya
T
T
Olive
M
M
Ricci
P
P
D'Andrea
V
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D055815:Young Adult