title: A sonographic scoring system to assess the risk of thyroid malignancy.
abstract: Prediction of thyroid malignancy with fine needle aspiration cytology or individual ultrasound characteristics has several limitations. This study evaluates the usefulness of a combination of ultrasound characteristics in predicting malignancy in patients with thyroid nodules. We assessed 189 thyroid nodules using ultrasonography and histology. Each nodule was assigned a score based on ultrasonographic characteristics. This score was compared with histology to identify ability to predict malignancy. There were 28 malignant nodules. The scoring system was appropriate for clinical use, obtaining an area under ROC curve of 0.822 [p< 0.0001] 95% confidence. FNAC of nodules with a score of more than 4 can be recommended (100% sensitivity). Nodules with a score less than 8 can be offered total thyroidectomy when FNAC is inconclusive (97.5% sensitivity). A combination of ultrasonographic criteria increase the accuracy of predicting malignancy in thyroid nodules.
authors.affiliation: University Surgical Unit, Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila, Sri Lanka.aloka@slt.lk.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pathirana
authors.forename: K G M W
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Bandara
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Faleel
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kuruppumullage
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Solangarachchi
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Rupasinghe
authors.forename: N P N
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Karunaratne
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ranasinghe
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Epa
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thusyanthan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult