Table 3.

Current pitfalls of most known risk stratification systems (RSSs) of thyroid nodules and recommendations to improve these.

Current Pitfalls of Existent RSSs Variables Not Taken into Account for Risk Stratification	Suggested Correction
Modifications of nodules treated by thermal ablation are classified as highly suspect	Incorporate a treatment response (TR) algorithm
The number of nodules is an independent predictor of the malignancy risk	Add the number of nodules in the risk stratification algorithm, especially if they look all alike and are of low or intermediate risk
Some clinical variables and previous results of FNA(s) are predictors of the malignancy risk	Incorporate age, sex, time since discovery, results of previous FNAs in the risk stratification algorithm
TSH and serum calcitonin are predictors of the malignancy risk	Incorporate TSH and serum calcitonin in the risk stratification algorithm
Complementary tools not used in most RSSs, such as vascularity and elastography	At least, incorporate these in the lexicon, to allow comparative studies on the subject