Correlation between Age, Nodule Diameter, and TI-RADS Score in Thyroid Nodule Classification on Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is a malignancy of the endocrine gland with the highest incidence. There are many radiological examination modalities that are used to help diagnose thyroid carcinoma, one of which is Ultrasonography. Ultrasonography (USG) can be useful to support the diagnosis of thyroid malignancy. A classification method that categorizes thyroid nodules based on risk for cancer, one of which is by using the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS). TI-RADS (Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System) is a classification of thyroid ultrasound readings to differentiate between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Several research efforts that have been done at Dr. Soetomo Hospital previously related to diagnostic of thyroid carcinoma but the results are meaningless and require large funds for the laboratory examination. The aim of this study is to make a relatively easy and inexpensive method using the TI-RADS classification, which is expected to assist in the preoperative diagnostics of a follicular thyroid carcinoma. It is hoped that there will be a method or modality that is easier, cheaper, accurate, and minimally invasive in predicting a follicular thyroid carcinoma. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included patients with thyroid mass who underwent treatment in Surgery Department, Dr. Soetomo Teaching Hospital between January 2012 and December 2020. In this study, we utilized the patients’ medical record to collect the necessary clinical data. The inclusion criteria in this study were patients with singular thyroid nodule, underwent thyroid ultrasound, and diagnosed as follicular nodular carcinoma by histopathology examination. Finally, a total of 53 patients were included for further analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Dr. Soetomo Teaching Hospital (Surabaya, Indonesia). Results: From a total of 53 research subjects, the subjects with the most age were more than 50 years old with a percentage of 52.8% or 28 patients and the rest, 47.2% or 25 patients. The results of this study indicates that nodule diameters less than 5 cm and more than 5 cm have almost the same number based on the number of data samples in this study, namely 53 patients. This can be seen from the number of respectively 27 (50.9%) and 26 (49%). In the TIRADS nodule score, the largest percentage obtained from medical data records in the form of a TIRADS score, namely a TIRADS score greater than TR 4 with a percentage of 60.4% or as many as 32 patients and the rest, namely a TIRADS score less than TR 4 of 39.6% or as much as 21 patients. In the third dependent variable, the authors looked for the odd ratio value for each variable on follicular carcinoma. The authors calculated the OR values ​​for each variable, obtaining results of 1.012 for age, 1.111 for nodule size, and 3.520 for TIRADS scores. Conclusion: There is a correlation between the TIRADS scores with the incidence of follicular thyroid carcinoma. Keywords: Thyroid cancer, TIRADS, Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma.