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The predictive value of structured ultrasonographic staging for thyroid nodules

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2014

S L Gray ,
G O'Neill  and
G McGarry
S L Gray*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland, UK
G O'Neill
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland, UK
G McGarry
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Miss Sophie Gray, ENT Department, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 16 Alexandra Parade, Glasgow G31 2ER, Scotland, UK E-mail: sophie.gray.04@aberdeen.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background:

‘R staging’ is a new ultrasonographic scoring system developed and used by our specialist head and neck radiologist for reporting sonographic risk of malignancy to those at our thyroid multidisciplinary team meeting. This study aimed to: classify the R staging system, examine its relationship with the eventual histopathological diagnosis and define its clinical utility.

Methods:

The pre-operative ultrasound scans of 78 patients were assigned an R status by our specialist head and neck radiologist. The final histopathology report for each thyroid nodule was used as the ‘gold standard’ for analysis.

Results:

When thyroid nodules were classified as low risk (R stages 1–3) or high risk (R stages 4–5) for malignancy, the sensitivity of R staging was 74.2 per cent and specificity was 80.9 per cent. An R5 status was 100 per cent predictive of malignancy.

Conclusion:

Our results compare favourably with other suggested ultrasonographic staging systems for thyroid nodules.

Keywords

Thyroid NoduleThyroid NeoplasmsPathologyUltrasonographyClassification
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 128 , Issue 10 , October 2014 , pp. 914 - 921
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2014 

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