Table 1. Characteristics of patients in the primary cohort and validation cohort.
| Characteristics | Primary cohort | Validation cohort | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-PTC (n=157) | PTC (n=343) | P | Non-PTC (n=53) | PTC (n=99) | P | ||
| Age (years), median [IQR] | 53.00 [47.00, 59.00] | 46.00 [37.00, 54.00] | <0.001 | 48.00 [35.00, 56.00] | 47.00 [36.00, 55.00] | 0.675 | |
| Gender, n (%) | |||||||
| Male | 41 (26.1) | 76 (22.2) | 0.363 | 8 (15.1) | 18 (18.2) | 0.822 | |
| Female | 116 (73.9) | 267 (77.8) | 45 (84.9) | 81 (81.8) | |||
| Echogenicity, n (%) | |||||||
| hyperechoic or isoechoic | 105 (66.9) | 20 (5.8) | <0.001 | 39 (73.6) | 9 (9.1) | <0.001 | |
| hypoechoic or markedly | 52 (33.1) | 323 (94.2) | 14 (26.4) | 90 (90.9) | |||
| Margin, n (%) | |||||||
| Clear | 130 (82.8) | 63 (18.4) | <0.001 | 47 (88.7) | 27 (27.3) | <0.001 | |
| Unclear | 27 (17.2) | 280 (81.6) | 6 (11.3) | 72 (72.7) | |||
| Shape, n (%) | |||||||
| Regular | 124 (79.0) | 57 (16.6) | <0.001 | 46 (86.8) | 18 (18.2) | <0.001 | |
| Irregular | 33 (21.0) | 286 (83.4) | 7 (13.2) | 81 (81.8) | |||
| Echotexture, n (%) | |||||||
| Homogeneous | 59 (37.6) | 7 (2.0) | <0.001 | 20 (37.7) | 4 (4.0) | <0.001 | |
| Heterogeneous | 98 (62.4) | 336 (98.0) | 33 (62.3) | 95 (96.0) | |||
| Calcification, n (%) | |||||||
| No | 134 (85.4) | 164 (47.8) | <0.001 | 48 (90.6) | 34 (34.3) | <0.001 | |
| Yes | 23 (14.6) | 179 (52.2) | 5 (9.4) | 65 (65.7) | |||
| Composition, n (%) | |||||||
| Cystic or spongiform | 82 (52.2) | 16 (4.7) | <0.001 | 31 (58.5) | 6 (6.1) | <0.001 | |
| Solid | 75 (47.8) | 327 (95.3) | 22 (41.5) | 93 (93.9) | |||
| Tall than wide, n (%) | |||||||
| <1 | 140 (89.2) | 75 (21.9) | <0.001 | 43 (81.1) | 38 (38.4) | <0.001 | |
| ≥1 | 17 (10.8) | 268 (78.1) | 10 (18.9) | 61 (61.6) | |||
| TSH (mIU/mL), n (%) | |||||||
| <2 | 89 (56.7) | 150 (43.7) | 0.009 | 34 (64.2) | 52 (52.5) | 0.175 | |
| ≥2 | 68 (43.3) | 193 (56.3) | 19 (35.8) | 47 (47.5) | |||
| SII, n (%) | |||||||
| <439 | 101 (64.3) | 148 (43.1) | <0.001 | 27 (50.9) | 54 (54.5) | 0.734 | |
| ≥439 | 56 (35.7) | 195 (56.9) | 26 (49.1) | 45 (45.5) | |||
| LMR, n (%) | |||||||
| <4 | 45 (28.7) | 194 (56.6) | <0.001 | 19 (35.8) | 27 (27.3) | 0.354 | |
| ≥4 | 112 (71.3) | 149 (43.4) | 34 (64.2) | 72 (72.7) | |||
| TI-RADS, n | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||
| 3 | 102 | 13 | 35 | 3 | |||
| 4–5 | 55 | 330 | 18 | 96 | |||
P value: two-tailed test, <0.05 were considered statistically significant. PTC, papillary thyroid carcinoma; IQR, interquartile range; TSH, thyrotropin; SII, systemic immune-inflammation index; LMR, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio; TI-RADS, Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System.