Table 6.
Association of BRAF gene mutations/CEUS features with clinical characteristics of PTC patients.
| Characteristics | BRAF+/CEUS+(1) | BRAF+/CEUS–(2) | BRAF–/CEUS+(3) | BRAF–/CEUS–(4) | p value | p value | p value | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 98 | n = 214 | n = 27 | n = 66 | 1 versus 2 | 3 versus 4 | 1 versus 3 | 2 versus 4 | |
| Age | 45.2 ± 1.37 | 47.4 ± 0.83 | 43.1 ± 2.12 | 44.3 ± 1.44 | 0.162 | 0.643 | 0.459 | 0.107 |
| Gender (F/M) | 63/35 | 160/54 | 21/6 | 52/14 | 0.006 | 1.000 | 0.056 | 0.623 |
| Size (B/M/S) | 13/46/39 | 13/71/130 | 0/10/17 | 3/15/48 | 0.001 | 0.229 | 0.229 | 0.208 |
| Location (L/R/I) | 51/44/3 | 95/118/1 | 14/13/0 | 33/33/0 | 0.057 | 0.871 | 0.645 | 0.637 |
| ETE (Y/N) | 52/46 | 99/115 | 6/21 | 28/38 | 0.275 | 0.096 | 0.005 | 0.672 |
| CLNM (Y/N) | 65/33 | 45/169 | 14/13 | 14/52 | 0.000 | 0.006 | 0.183 | 1.000 |
| No of LNs harvested | 4.2 ± 0.4 | 3.1 ± 0.3 | 3.5 ± 0.6 | 3.2 ± 0.5 | 0.025 | 0.733 | 0.407 | 0.886 |
| No. of LNs involved | 1.7 ± 0.2 | 0.5 ± 0.1 | 1.1 ± 0.3 | 0.5 ± 0.2 | 0.000 | 0.049 | 0.111 | 0.844 |
B/M/S, big/middle/small; CEUS+, hyper or isoechoic enhancement at peak time on CEUS; CEUS–, hypo enhancement at peak time on CEUS; CLNM, cervical lymph node metastasis; ETE, extrathyroidal extension; F/M, female/male; LNs, lymph nodes; L/R/I, left/right/isthmus; PTC, papillary thyroid carcinoma.