Table 7.

Final surgery decisional rule set (after biopsy)

Rule No.	Rule	Decision	Historical No. of patients that correctly satisfy specific rule	Historical No. of patients that correctly satisfy all rules
1	Margin is regular	Likely benign–defer surgery	27/27	27/27
	Cytology is benign or inadequate (Bethesda 1 or 2)
2	There are no echogenic foci	Likely benign-defer surgery	5/5	32/32
	Solid component is hypoechoic or markedly hypoechoic
	LNs are not visualized or are visualized contralateral to the primary tumor (but not ipsilaterally)
	Cytology is benign (Bethesda 2)
3	LNs are not visualized or are visualized contralateral to primary tumor (but not ipsilaterally)	Likely benign-defer surgery	4/4	36/36
	Cytology is inadequate (Bethesda 1)
4	Solid component is hypoechoic or markedly hypoechoic	Likely nonbenign–consider surgery	6/7	42/43
	LNs are not visualized or are visualized contralateral to the primary tumor (but not ipsilaterally)
	Cytology is indeterminate (Bethesda 3-5)
5	Solid component is isoechoic, hyperechoic or mixed echogenicity	Likely nonbenign–consider surgery	3/5	45/48
	Hypoechoic halo is absent
	Margin is irregular/microlobulated/ spiculated OR indistinct
	Cytology is benign or indeterminate (Bethesda 2-5)
6	Otherwise	Likely nonbenign–consider surgery	2/5	47/53

Abbreviation: LN, lymph node.