Table 4.
Sensitivities and specificities of the TIRADS systems (TIRSYS) and investigators’ opinion (PERS) according to the size of the nodules
| Maximal diameter of the lesion |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 cm |
1–2 cm |
2–3 cm |
≥3 cm |
|||||
| sensitivity, % (CI)3 | specificity, % (CI) | sensitivity, % (CI) | specificity, % (CI) | sensitivity, % (CI) | specificity, % (CI) | sensitivity, % (CI) | specificity, % (CI) | |
| TIRSYS-A1 | 0 (0–1) | 100.0 (96.5–100) | 84.8 (81.9–87.5) | 44.5 (41.1–47.8) | 96.4 (93.5–98.3) | 15.5 (12.7–18.6) | 90.0 (86.4–92.9) | 19.6 (17.3–22.1) |
| TIRSYS-B1 | 74.3 (69.4–78.8) | 13.3 (7.5–21.4) | 84.8 (81.9–87.5) | 44.5 (41.1–47.8) | 97.9 (95.4–99.2) | 8.9 (6.7–11.5) | 94.0 (91–96.2) | 10.2 (8.5–12.2) |
| PERS2 | 71.4 (59.4–81.6) | 5.5 (0.1–23.8) | 88.0 (81.2–93.0) | 31.4 (24.6–38.9) | 92.9 (82.7–98.0) | 21.8 (14.8–30.4) | 97.1 (90.1–99.7) | 13.8 (9.5–19.1) |
| p (TIRSYS-A vs. PERS) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.35 | 0.01 | 0.22 | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| p (TIRSYS-B vs. PERS) | 0.62 | 0.27 | 0.35 | 0.01 | 0.04 | <0.001 | 0.29 | 0.12 |
| p (TIRSYS-A vs. TIRSYS-B) | 0.001 | <0.001 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.31 | <0.001 | 0.05 | <0.001 |
In TIRSYS-A, the stricter suggestion of TIRADS was taken into account; FNA was indicated neither in nodules <1 cm nor in the very low-suspicion group of ATA. In TIRSYS-B, the permissive suggestions of TIRADS have been considered; FNA was indicated both in those subcentimeter nodules which belonged to the highest TIRADS category and in the very low-suspicion group of ATA if the nodule was >2 cm.
TIRSYS means the combined results of TIRADS of 5 professional societies, that is, the AACE/ACE/AME [13], the ATA [12], the ACR [14], the ETA [15], and the KSTR [16].
Personal suggestions of the investigators.
CI means 95% confidence interval.