Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27588492›Full record

Trial reportOncotarget2016

Calcification of thyroid nodules increases shear-wave speed (SWS) measurement: using multiple calcification-specific SWS cutoff values outperforms a single uniform cutoff value in diagnosing malignant thyroid nodules.

Bao-Ding Chen, Hui-Xiong Xu, Yi-Feng Zhang, Bo-Ji Liu, Le-Hang Guo, Dan-Dan Li, Chong-Ke Zhao, Xiao-Long Li, Dan Wang, Shuang-Shuang Zhao

Open access · diamondAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact, top 88% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Bao-Ding ChenDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Hui-Xiong XuDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Yi-Feng ZhangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Bo-Ji LiuDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Le-Hang GuoDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Dan-Dan LiDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Chong-Ke ZhaoDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Xiao-Long LiDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Dan WangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Ultrasound Research and Educational Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Shuang-Shuang ZhaoDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital · CNJiangsu University · CNNanjing Medical University · CNTongji University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Conventional ultrasound cannot satisfactorily distinguish malignant and benign thyroid nodules. Shear-wave elastography (SWE) can evaluate tissue stiffness and complement conventional ultrasound in diagnosing malignant nodules. However, calcification of nodules may affect the results of SWE. The purposes of this study are to compare the differences of shear-wave speed (SWS) measurement among different calcification groups and compare the diagnostic performance between using a single uniform SWS cutoff value and multiple individual calcification-specific cutoff values using technique of point SWS measurement. We retrospectively identified 517 thyroid nodules (346 benign and 171 malignant nodules) examined by conventional ultrasound and point SWS measurement. There were 177 non-calcified, 159 micro-calcified and 181 macro-calcified nodules. The diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) was computed. The mean SWS in malignant nodules more than doubled that of benign nodules (4.81±2.03 m/s vs. 2.29±0.99 m/s, p<0.001). The mean SWS of nodules progressively increased from the non-calcification (2.60±1.49 m/s), to micro-calcification (3.27±1.85 m/s) and to macro-calcification (3.68±2.26 m/s) groups (p<0.001), which was true in both the benign and malignant nodules. If we used individual SWS cutoff values for non- (SWS >2.42 m/s), micro- (SWS >2.88 m/s) and macro-calcification (SWS >3.59 m/s) nodules in the whole group, the AUC was 0.859 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.826-0.888), which was significantly better than the AUC of 0.816 (95% CI, 0.780-0.848) if a single uniform cutoff value (SWS >2.72 m/s) was applied to all the nodules regardless of calcification status (p=0.011). The cutoff values of SWS for different calcified nodules warrant future prospective validation.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCalcinosisCarcinoma, PapillaryCase-Control StudiesElasticity Imaging TechniquesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisRetrospective StudiesROC Curvecalcificationpoint shear-wave measurementshear-wave elastographythyroid noduleultrasound

Identifiers

PMID27588492
PMCPMC5323222
OpenAlexW2515198943

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.