Abstract
Background and Objective:Thyroid nodules (TNs) are abnormal growths of thyroid cells that form masses within the thyroid gland. TNs are common, and the importance lies in need to exclude thyroid cancer. This study was intended to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography for differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions in comparison with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNA cytology).Methods:This study involved 133 patients with thyroid lesions. All patients underwent thyroid ultrasonography and ultrasound (US)-guided-FNA cytology and results were compared.Results:Out of 133 patients included in this study, the mean age was 41.2±15 years, and 113 (85%) were female. Thyroid lesions were benign in 126 cases (94.7%) and malignant in nine cases (5.3%). Among 124 patients with thyroid lesions diagnosed as benign with US, 122 (98.38%) were confirmed to be benign with FNA cytology, and only 2 (1.6%) were proved to be malignant. Among nine patients with thyroid lesions diagnosed as malignant by US, 5 (55.6%) were confirmed to be malignant by FNA cytology, and 4 (44.4%) were proved to be benign. The US diagnosed benign thyroid lesions with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 98.38%, 71.42%, 98.38%, and 55.55%, respectively. The results revealed strong compatibility between diagnosis of benign thyroid lesions by the US and proved diagnosis by FNA cytology (p<0.001).Conclusion:B-mode ultrasonography is a valuable tool in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions. It can almost always predict the benign nature of thyroid lesions with excellent diagnostic accuracy.
Highlights
Thyroid nodules (TNs) are abnormal growths of thyroid cells that form solid, fluid-filled, or mixed masses within the thyroid gland
The importance of TNs lies in need to exclude thyroid cancer, which occurs in 7-15% of cases.[4]
The study involved the electronic reports of ultrasonography and fineneedle aspiration (FNA) cytology of 133 patients who underwent thyroid ultrasonography and US-guided-FNA cytology between January 2016 and August 2018
Summary
Thyroid nodules (TNs) are abnormal growths of thyroid cells that form solid, fluid-filled, or mixed masses within the thyroid gland. Suspicious features for malignancy include irregular shape, irregular margins, micro-calcifications, depth greater than width, and markedly hypoechoic solid lesions.[9] The British Thyroid Association (BTA) classified TNs into 5 categories; U1 = normal thyroid gland, U2 = benign TN, U3 = intermediate/equivocal TN, U4 = suspicious TN, and U5 = malignant TN.[10] Both EU-TIRADS and BTA help physicians and radiologists in predicting the nature of thyroid lesions and selecting patients for fineneedle aspiration (FNA) cytology. US is a reliable, noninvasive, inexpensive, and commonly available tool in developing countries in which populations with low socioeconomic status may not have access to FNA cytology instead of surgical biopsy This gives great importance for this study. This is the first study on this topic in Yemen
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