To assess the diagnostic performance of the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR TI-RADS) and the peri-procedural complication rate of thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA).

ACR TI-RADS is a classification system that standardises thyroid ultrasound reporting while also predicting the rate of malignancy using multiple ultrasound parameters. These parameters include composition, echogenicity, shape, margins and echogenic foci. These parameters are assigned a score and the total score along with the size of the nodule determines the classification and associated recommendation. These recommendations include no follow up, follow up interval and FNA. Ultrasound guided FNA is minimally invasive, economical and relatively safe. It is the most commonly used method to differentiate...

A total of 74 patients and 79 nodules were included after exclusion of nodules with no definitive cytologic diagnosis (non-diagnostic, indeterminate and suspicious results). Patients were aged from 22 to 86 with 16 males and 58 females. The cohort showed 15 malignant nodules and 64 benign nodules. There were 11 TI-RADS 3 nodules. These had a 0% rate of malignancy. There were 50 TI-RADS 4 nodules. These had a 22% rate of malignancy. There were 18 TI-RADS 5 nodules. These had a 22.2% risk of...

We found that malignancy rates rose with increasing ACR TI-RADS categorisation. These results are somewhat similar to previously quoted malignancy rates ranging from 3.1 - 5% for TI-RADS 3, 5-20% for TI-RADS 4, and >20% for TI-RADS 5 [1, 2, 3]. The periprocedural haematoma rate of 3% was at the lower range of the quoted figures in the literature which ranged from 0.3 – 26% [4]. This study has some limitations, such as being retrospective, limited numbers of patients and sonographic assessment by different operators...

1.Huh, S., Lee, H.S., Yoon, J. et al. Diagnostic performances and unnecessary US-FNA rates of various TIRADS after application of equal size thresholds, Scientific Reports, 2020 June 30; Volume 10 (No 1): p10632 2.Sharma, P., Elfatairy, K., Gandhi, D. et al. Diagnostic Performance of ACR-TIRADS in Differentiating Benign From Malignant Thyroid Nodules in Patients Undergoing Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy: Comparative Study Based on Five International Guidelines for Management of Thyroid Nodules, Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2021 July 11; Volume 11(No 3-4), p69-75 3.Tessler, F., Middleton,...