Table 3.
Ultrasound (US) features in relation to cytological and histopathological results.
| US Features | All (N = 1211) N (%) |
Benign (N = 1022) N (%) |
Malignant (N = 189) N (%) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composition | ||||
| Solid | 696 (57.5) | 536 (52.4) | 154 (81.5) | <0.001 |
| <10% cystic | 296 (24.4) | 273 (26.7) | 19 (10.1) | <0.001 |
| 10–50% cystic | 160 (13.2) | 148 (14.5) | 12 (6.3) | 0.002 |
| 50–90% cystic | 27 (2.2) | 24 (2.3) | 3 (1.6) | 0.788 |
| >90% cystic | 16 (1.3) | 16 (1.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0.154 |
| Spongiform | 26 (2.1) | 25 (2.4) | 1 (0.5) | 0.106 |
| Echogenicity | ||||
| Hypo | 530 (43.8) | 419 (41.0) | 102 (54.0) | <0.001 |
| Marked hypo | 132 (10.9) | 74 (7.2) | 58 (30.7) | <0.001 |
| Iso | 534 (44.1) | 505 (49.4) | 28 (14.8) | <0.001 |
| Hyper | 8 (0.7) | 7 (0.7) | 1 (0.5) | >0.999 |
| Completely cystic | 17 (1.4) | 17 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0.092 |
| Margin | ||||
| Sharp/smooth | 936 (77.3) | 858 (84.0) | 69 (36.5) | <0.001 |
| Macrolobulated | 43 (3.6) | 40 (3.9) | 2 (1.1) | 0.05 |
| Microlobulated | 42 (3.4) | 27 (2.6) | 15 (7.9) | <0.001 |
| Irregular | 127 (10.5) | 52 (5.1) | 75 (39.7) | <0.001 |
| Ill-defined | 66 (5.5) | 42 (4.1) | 24 (12.7) | <0.001 |
| ETE | 7 (0.6) | 3 (0.3) | 4 (2.1) | <0.001 |
| Calcifications | ||||
| None | 742 (61.3) | 660 (64.6) | 75 (39.7) | <0.001 |
| Colloidal | 157 (13.0) | 147 (14.4) | 9 (4.8) | <0.001 |
| Macro | 155 (12.8) | 102 (9.9) | 42 (22.2) | <0.001 |
| Rim | 17 (1.4) | 12 (1.2) | 5 (2.6) | <0.001 |
| Rim with SESTC | 10 (0.8) | 6 (0.6) | 4 (2.1) | <0.001 |
| Micro | 289 (23.9) | 189 (18.5) | 104 (55.0) | <0.001 |
| Shape | ||||
| TTW | 214 (17.7) | 151 (14.8) | 63 (33.3) | <0.001 |
| Non-TTW | 980 (80.9) | 857 (83.9) | 113 (59.8) | <0.001 |
| Round | 27 (2.2) | 14 (1.4) | 13 (6.9) | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: US—Ultrasound; ACC—Diagnostic Accuracy; ETE—Extrathyroidal Extension; SESTC—Small Extrusive Soft Tissue Component; TTW—Taller Than Wide.