Table 3.
Diagnostic accuracy of preoperative ultrasound for metastatic lymph nodes in thyroid cancer.
| References | Country | Study | Patients | Criteria | Compartment | SE (%) | SP (%) | PPV (%) | NPV (%) | AC (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shimamoto et al. (26) | Japan | SR | 49 N1 of 77 PTC | A,B | CLNM, LLNM | 36.7 | 89.3 | 85.7 | 44.6 | 55.8 |
| Jeong et al. (35) | South Korea | SP | 46 positive LNs of 312 LNs | A | CLNM, LLNM | 53.6 | 97.9 | 73.7 | 95 | N/A |
| Kim et al. (41) | South Korea | SR | 53 N1 of 165 PTC | A | CLNM | 38 | 93 | 77 | 70 | 71 |
| LLNM | 64 | 92 | 83 | 82 | 82 | |||||
| Sugitani et al. (42) | Japan | SP | 263 N1 of 361 PTC | A | CLNM | 29 | 91 | 82 | 47.3 | 48.3 |
| LLNM | 100 | 0 | 98 | 0 | 98 | |||||
| Ahn et al. (36) | South Korea | SR | 117 positive levels of 183 cervical level | A | CLNM | 55 | 69 | 77 | 44 | 60 |
| LLNM | 62 | 79 | 84 | 55 | 68 | |||||
| Choi et al. (43) | South Korea | SR | 119 N1 of 299 PTC | A,B | CLNM | 53.2 | 79.8 | 60.8 | 74.3 | 69.9 |
| LLNM | 93.9 | 25 | 93.9 | 25 | 88.7 | |||||
| Park et al. (44) | South Korea | SR | 34 N1 of 94 PTC | A | CLNM | 22.6 | 98.6 | 87.5 | 74.5 | 70.1 |
| LLNM | 76.2 | 75 | 72.7 | 78.3 | 75.6 | |||||
| Choi et al. (45) | South Korea | SR | 238 N1 of 589 PTC | A | CLNM | 47.2 | 94.8 | 90.4 | 63.5 | 70.6 |
| LLNM | 69.1 | 94.8 | 57.6 | 96.8 | 92.4 | |||||
| Lee et al. (46) | Japan | SR | 254 positive LNs of 331 LNs | A | CLNM, LLNM | 78 | 99 | 99.5 | 58 | 83 |
| Hwang et al. (47) | USA | SR | 30 N1 of 68 PTC | A,B | CLNM | 30 | 86.8 | 64.3 | 61.1 | N/A |
| LLNM | 93.8 | 80 | 76.5 | 94.1 | N/A | |||||
| Lee et al. (48) | South Korea | SR | 121 N1 of 252 PTC | A | CLNM | 23 | 97 | 81 | 72 | 73 |
| LLNM | 70 | 84 | 81 | 74 | 77 | |||||
| Yoo et al. (49) | South Korea | SR | 51 positive LNs of 124 LNs | A | CLNM | 76.4 | 69.9 | 63.9 | 81 | 72.6 |
| Lesnik et al. (50) | USA | SP | 162 PTC | A,B | CLNM | 26 | 95 | 78 | 66 | N/A |
| LLNM | 79 | 87 | 80 | 86 | N/A | |||||
| Lee et al. (51) | South Korea | SR | 136 N1 of 368 PTC44 N1 of 48 PTC | A | LLNM | 39 | 88.4 | 66.3 | 71.2 | 70.1 |
| LLNM | 95.5 | 25 | 93.3 | 33.3 | 89.6 | |||||
| Khokhar et al. (52) | USA | SR | 104 N1 of 227 PTC | A,B | CLNM | 37.5 | 90.2 | 76.5 | 63.1 | 66.1 |
Criteria category: A: heterogeneous inner structure, loss of fatty hilum, rounded shape, taller-than-wide shape, cystic changes, microcalcifications, and peripheral vascularity; B: Lymph node size >6 mm, or 8 mm, or 1 cm; SR, single center retrospective; SP, single prospective; LN, lymph node; PTC, papillary thyroid carcinoma; CLNM, central lymph node metastasis; LLNM, lateral lymph node metastasis; SE, sensitivity; SP, specificity; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value; AS: accuracy; N/A, not available.