Table 1. Associations between Method of Nodule Discovery and Patient Features.
| Patient Features | Median (range) or N (%) | P† | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radiographic incidentaloma | Palpated at sick/consult visit | Palpated at well exam | Discovered by family | ||
| Patients | 26 (18%) | 20 (14%) | 38 (27%) | 57 (40%) | |
| Age, yr | 15.8 (11.1–18.9) | 15.6 (6.6–18.9) | 15.3 (5.4–18.9) | 15.2 (5.5–18.9) | 0.78 |
| Females:males | 17:9 (65:35%)* | 16:4 (80:20%) | 32:6 (84:16%) | 53:4 (93:7%)** | 0.009 |
| Nodules ≥1 cm | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–6) | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–10) | 0.48 |
| Dominant nodule diameter, mm | 14 (10–46)* | 21 (10–54) | 25 (12–42) | 28 (11–64)** | <0.0001 |
| Thyroid cancer | 1 (4%)* | 6 (30%) | 13 (34%) | 14 (25%) | 0.02 |
| Metastasis‡ | 0 (0%) | 2 (33%) | 7 (54%) | 9 (64%) | 0.69 |
*
Significantly lower or
**
significantly higher than in other groups, according to post-hoc comparison by Sidak-adjusted critical p-value (continuous variables) or cell-specific chi-squared statistic (categories).
†
Testing for equal distribution in all groups, including 4 patients with unknown method of discovery (data not shown), by Kruskal-Wallis test (continuous variables), or Fisher exact test (dichotomous features).
‡
Among patients with thyroid cancer. All patients with “Metastasis” had lymph node metastases and, in addition, one child in the “Discovered by family” group also had diffuse pulmonary metastases.