Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28948534›Full record

Trial reportJournal of endocrinological investigation2018

Evaluation of the Italian cytological subclassification of thyroid indeterminate nodules into TIR-3A and TIR-3B: a retrospective study of 290 cases with histological correlation from a single institution.

E Rullo, G Minelli, D Bosco, F Nardi, V Ascoli

Abstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of endocrinological investigation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

E RulloDipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche, Oncologiche e Anatomo-Patologiche, Università Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4152-5025
G MinelliUnità di Statistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
D BoscoDipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche, Oncologiche e Anatomo-Patologiche, Università Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-5342
F NardiDipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche, Oncologiche e Anatomo-Patologiche, Università Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0271-9855
V AscoliDipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche, Oncologiche e Anatomo-Patologiche, Università Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161, Rome, Italy. valeria.ascoli@uniroma1.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7530-4832
Sapienza University of Rome · ITIstituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna · ITIstituto Superiore di Sanità · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe Italian consensus to classify thyroid cytology has provided a standardized reporting scheme, including the subdivision of indeterminate for malignancy TIR-3 category into TIR-3A (low-risk) and TIR-3B (high-risk). We aimed to present our experience on this subclassification by evaluating risks of malignancy and the validity in sorting nodules with dissimilar risks. Another aim was to compare our performance against the Bethesda system.

methodsFine-needle aspirates of 290 TIR-3 that underwent thyroid surgery at our hospital (2008-2013) were reviewed and divided into TIR-3A or TIR-3B, and AUS/FLUS or FN/SFN. Cytological diagnoses were then correlated to histology. Results were evaluated using univariate analysis.

resultsThe subclassification into TIR-3A and TIR-3B differentiated hyperplastic nodules (p = 0.000) but not adenomas (p = 0.090). Rates of malignancy were significantly different between TIR-3A (10.2%) and TIR-3B (43.8%); TIR-3B malignancies were often papillary carcinomas (83%). TIR-3A/TIR-3B accounted for high sensitivity (84.5%; CI 79.7-88.4%), accuracy (64.1%; CI 58.6-69.6%) and NPV (89.8%; CI 85.6-93.0%) as opposed to modest specificity (55.8%; CI 49.9-61.6%) and PPV (43.8%; CI 38.1-49.8%). The rate of malignancy in AUS-FLUS was higher than in TIR-3A (p = 0.007), whereas it was not different between FN/SFN and TIR-3B (p = 0.337). Sensitivity of the Bethesda system was significantly lower respect to the Italian system.

conclusionsThe study supports the Italian consensus showing a different risk of malignancy for TIR-3A as compared to TIR-3B. TIR-3A/TIR-3B subclassification is valid to sort out benign nodules (high NPV) and malignancies (high sensitivity) but not adenomas (modest specificity, low PPV). In our experience, sensitivity is the main difference between Italian and Bethesda systems.

Indexed as

Adenocarcinoma, FollicularAdolescentAdultAgedCarcinoma, PapillaryCytodiagnosisFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisRetrospective StudiesThyroid NeoplasmsThyroid NoduleYoung AdultClassificationIndeterminate fine-needle aspiration cytologyThyroid cancerThyroid nodule

Identifiers

PMID28948534
OpenAlexW2756730995

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.