Author(s): Isaac David E. Ampil II, M.D., F.P.C.S. and Rafael R. Azares, M.D.

Abstract:
This study aimed to determine the accuracy of ultrasonography in differentiating malignant thyroid nodules/ lesions. It also aimed to identify the ultrasound features that would highly suggest thyroid malignancy and validate the scoring system proposed by Ampil, et al. (2007) that would predict thyroid malignancy based on the said ultrasonographic features.

Methods:
A retrospective, cross sectional study of 278 patients with thyroid pathology were included in this study comparing ultrasound characteristics and pathologic results from 2004 to August 2011. The main outcome measure is to identify ultrasound features that predict malignancy by means of multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results:
For patients with thyroid malignancy, all those with invasion to contiguous structures turned out to be malignant (P<0.0001), while the other statistically significant common ultrasonographic findings were negative halo sign, irregular shape, ill-defined margins and hypoechogenecity. In this study, a score of 0-3 have a negligible risk of malignancy, a score of 4 has an intermediate risk of cancer and a score of 5-8 has the highest chance of being malignant. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is a useful diagnostic tool in identifying the presence of thyroid nodules. Moreover, some features are identified to predict the probability of a malignancy. The presence of invasion, irregular margins, homogeneity and absence of halo sign are the main predictors of thyroid malignancy. Key words: Ultrasound, thyroid, cancer, risk stratification[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns="" column_min_width="" column_spacing="" rule_style="" rule_size="" rule_color="" hue="" saturation="" lightness="" alpha="" content_alignment_medium="" content_alignment_small="" content_alignment="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" sticky_display="normal,sticky" class="" id="" margin_top="" margin_right="" margin_bottom="" margin_left="" fusion_font_family_text_font="" fusion_font_variant_text_font="" font_size="" line_height="" letter_spacing="" text_transform="" text_color="var(--awb-color8)" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_color="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_delay="0" animation_offset="" logics=""]DOI: https://doi.org/10.61662/PCS_ssjg6222