Affiliations: [a] Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| [b] Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Baoshen Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, Shanghai, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Li Zheng, Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, No. 280, Mohe Road, Baoshan District, Shanghai 201999, China. Tel.: +86 13917233467; E-mail: zli9798@163.com.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To evaluate whether thyroid nodule depth and other ultrasound features can predict nondiagnostic cytological results on ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration. MATERIAL AND METHODS:This retrospective study included 412 thyroid nodules that underwent ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration from 2014 to 2015. The nodules were classified as nondiagnostic and diagnostic by the cytopathological results. Clinical information of the patients (ie., age, sex) and ultrasound features (ie., size, depth, calcification, cystic content, vascularity) of the nodules were recorded and compared between the nondiagnostic group and diagnostic group. RESULTS:Age and sex were not significantly different between the nondiagnostic group and diagnostic group (P > 0.05). Nodule depth >15 mm (OR, 7.128; P < 0.001), peripheral rim calcification (OR, 5.725; P = 0.01) and cystic content >50% (OR, 2.995; P = 0.018) were factors for the nondiagnostic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytopathological results. Macrocalcification in the nodule sized 5–10 mm was associated with the nondiagnostic results (P = 0.04). Nodule size and vascularity were not associated with the nondiagnostic results (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Nodule depth >15 mm, peripheral rim calcification and cystic content >50% were three independent predictors of the nondiagnostic cytopathological results. Macrocalcification in the nodule sized 5–10 mm was also associated with the nondiagnostic results.
Keywords: Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration, thyroid nodules, nondiagnostic cytopathology
