SynthesisMedicine2017
Ultrasound is helpful to differentiate Bethesda class III thyroid nodules: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic Performance of Ultrasound vs Ultrasound-Guided FNAC in Thyroid Nodules: Data From the ElaTION Trial.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Trial
- Predicting malignancy in thyroid AUS: ultrasonographic and clinical risk factors beyond ACR TI-RADS.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Malignancy risk score in thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance cytology: an approach based on cytological subgrouping and ultrasonographic data.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- A novel marker for predicting malignancy in patients with thyroid nodules diagnosed as AUS on initial cytology: thyroid hormone sensitivity.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Prevalence and predictors of malignancy in Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules undergoing surgery.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Association between Benign Thyroid Disorders and Breast Cancer Risk in Korean Women.Cancer research and treatment · 2026Article
- Article
- Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Bethesda III or IV Cytology on Fine Needle Aspiration of Thyroid Nodules-A Retrospective Study.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2025Article
- Intelligent diagnosis of thyroid nodules with AI ultrasound assistance and cytology classification.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Improving Diagnostic Accuracy of Indeterminate Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Using Results of Ultrasound Examination, Cyclin D1 Immunostaining, and Molecular Testing.Acta cytologica · 2025Article
- Role of clinicopathologic and sonographic characteristics for the management of patients with cytological diagnosis of thyroid follicular neoplasm.Gland surgery · 2024Article
- Thermal ablation for Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules: current diagnosis and management.Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea) · 2024Article
- Evolutionary analysis of indeterminate cytology and risk of malignancy in a thyroid nodule unit.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- Ultrasonographic predictors of thyroid cancer in Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- The Role of "Critical" Ultrasound Reassessment in the Decision-Making of Bethesda III Thyroid Nodules.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Do ACR TI-RADS scores demonstrate unique thyroid molecular profiles?Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea) · 2022Article
- Serum TSH as a predictor of malignancy in indeterminate thyroid nodules.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2022Article
- Predictors of Malignancy in Thyroid Nodules Classified as Bethesda Category III.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Use of Diagnostic Criteria from ACR and EU-TIRADS Systems to Improve the Performance of Cytology in Thyroid Nodule Triage.Cancers · 2021Article
- Diagnosing thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance cytology with the deep convolutional neural network.Scientific reports · 2021Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFine-needle aspiration (FNA) is the most dependable tool to triage thyroid nodules for medical or surgical management. However, Bethesda class III cytology, namely "follicular lesion of undetermined significance" (FLUS) or "atypia of undetermined significance" (AUS), is a major limitation of the US-FNA in assessing thyroid nodules. As the most important imaging method, ultrasound (US) has a high efficacy in diagnosing thyroid nodules. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the role of US in evaluating Bethesda class III thyroid nodules.
methodsWith keywords "Undetermined Significance," "Bethesda Category III," "Bethesda system," "Cytological Subcategory," "AUS/FLUS," "Atypia of Undetermined Significance," and "Ultrasound/US," papers in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar from inception to December 2016 were searched. A meta-analysis of these trials was then performed for evaluating the diagnostic value of thyroid ultrasound in Bethesda Category III thyroid nodules.
resultsFourteen studies including 2405 nodules were analyzed. According to the criteria for US diagnosis of thyroid nodules in each article, with any one of suspicious features as indictors of malignancy, US had a pooled sensitivity of 0.75 (95% CI 0.72-0.78) and a pooled specificity of 0.48 (95% CI 0.45-0.50) in evaluating Bethesda Class III Nodules. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 10.92 (95% CI 6.04-19.74). The overall area under the curve was 0.84 and the Q* index was 0.77. With any 2 or 3 of US suspicious features as indictors of malignancy, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.77 (95% CI 0.71-0.83) and 0.54 (95% CI 0.51-0.58), 0.66 (95% CI 0.59-0.73) and 0.71 (95% CI 0.68-0.74), respectively.
conclusionsUS was helpful for differentiating benign and malignant Bethesda class III thyroid nodules, with the more suspicious features, the more likely to be malignant.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.