SynthesisEndocrine2015
Reliability of real-time elastography to diagnose thyroid nodules previously read at FNAC as indeterminate: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Endocrine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Diagnostic reliability of elastography in thyroid nodules reported as indeterminate at prior fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC): a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.European radiology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Gene expression classifier for the diagnosis of indeterminate thyroid nodules: a meta-analysis.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2016Pooled it
- Molecular imaging with (99m)Tc-MIBI and molecular testing for mutations in differentiating benign from malignant follicular neoplasm: a prospective comparison.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2016Trial
- Diagnostic performance of ultrasound elastography alone and in combination with conventional ultrasonography for Bethesda III-IV thyroid nodules: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2025Article
- Combined Shear Wave Elastography and EU TIRADS in Differentiating Malignant and Benign Thyroid Nodules.Cancers · 2022Article
- Shear Wave Elastography versus Strain Elastography in Diagnosing Parathyroid Adenomas.International journal of endocrinology · 2020Article
- Thyroid follicular microcarcinoma.Gland surgery · 2020Review
- Core needle biopsy in the management of thyroid nodules with an indeterminate fine-needle aspiration report.Gland surgery · 2019Review
- Ultrasound elastography of the thyroid: principles and current status.Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea) · 2019Article
- PET/CT in thyroid nodule and differentiated thyroid cancer patients. The evidence-based state of the art.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2019Review
- Nodular Thyroid Disease in the Era of Precision Medicine.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Review
- Cancer Rate of the Indeterminate Lesions at Low or High Risk According to Italian System for Reporting of Thyroid FNA.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2018Article
- Real-time elastography in autonomously functioning thyroid nodules: relationship with TSH levels, scintigraphy, and ultrasound patterns.Endocrine · 2017Article
- Ultrasonography scoring systems can rule out malignancy in cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules.Endocrine · 2017Observational
- A meta-analysis-derived proposal for a clinical, ultrasonographic, and cytological scoring system to evaluate thyroid nodules: the "CUT" score.Endocrine · 2016Article
- Strain ratio ultrasound elastography increases the accuracy of colour-Doppler ultrasound in the evaluation of Thy-3 nodules. A bi-centre university experience.European radiology · 2016Article
- A cost analysis of thyroid core needle biopsy vs. diagnostic surgery.Gland surgery · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The main limit of thyroid fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is represented by indeterminate report. Recently, real-time elastography (RTE) has been described in the management of these cases. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of published studies specifically focused on the use of RTE in indeterminate thyroid nodules. A comprehensive literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases was conducted by using the combination of the terms "thyroid" and "indeterminate" and "elastography." Pooled sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV of RTE as predictor of malignancy in thyroid nodules with indeterminate FNAC were calculated, including 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The area under the summary ROC curve (AUC) was also assessed. Databases found 572 papers, and eight were included in the meta-analysis. Of these, six studies had prospective design and two were retrospective. Pooled malignancy rate was 31%. As common denominator, all studies set the prevalence of hardness within the nodule as risk factor for malignancy of the lesion. Sensitivity of RTE ranged from 11 to 89% (pooled estimate of 69%; 95% CI 55-82%), specificity varied from 6 to 100% (pooled estimate of 75%; 95% CI 42-96%), and accuracy was comprised between 35 and 94% (pooled estimate of 73%; 95% CI 54-89%). The AUC was 0.77. RTE has suboptimal diagnostic accuracy to diagnose thyroid nodules previously classified as indeterminate. Then, RTE alone should not be used for selecting these patients for surgery or not. We advice for further studies using other elastographic approaches and combined RTE and B-mode ultrasonography.
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Registered trials
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