Prediction of thyroid malignancy with fin'e 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.
