Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33989038›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of radiology2021

Comparison of British Thyroid Association, American College of Radiology TIRADS and Artificial Intelligence TIRADS with histological correlation: diagnostic performance for predicting thyroid malignancy and unnecessary fine needle aspiration rate.

Linda Watkins, Greg O'Neill, David Young, Claire McArthur

Open access · hybridAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of radiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Linda WatkinsDepartment of Radiology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, NHS GG&C, Glasgow, UK.
Greg O'NeillDepartment of Radiology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, NHS GG&C, Glasgow, UK.
David YoungDepartmentof Mathematics and Statistics, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK.
Claire McArthurDepartment of Radiology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, NHS GG&C, Glasgow, UK.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary · GBNHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde · GBUniversity of Strathclyde · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo compare diagnostic performance of British Thyroid Association (BTA), American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR-TIRADS) and Artificial Intelligence TIRADS (AI-TIRADS) for thyroid nodule malignancy. To determine comparative unnecessary fine needle aspiration (FNA) rates.

methods218 thyroid nodules with definitive histology obtained during 2017 were included. Ultrasound images were reviewed retrospectively in consensus by two subspecialist radiologists, blinded to histopathology, and nodules assigned a BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS grade. Nodule laterality and size were recorded to allow accurate histopathological correlation and determine which nodules met criteria for FNA.

results77 (35.3%) nodules were malignant. Deeming ultrasound Grade 4-5 as test-positive and 1-2 as test-negative, sensitivity and specificity for BTA was 98.28 and 42.55%, for ACR-TIRADS: 95.24 and 40.57% and for AI-TIRADS: 93.44 and 45.71%. FNA was indicated in 101 (71.6%), 67 (47.5%) and 65 (46.1%) benign nodules utilising BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS respectively. The unnecessary FNA rate was significantly higher with BTA (46.3%) compared to ACR-TIRADS (30.7%) and AI-TIRADS (29.8%)

conclusionBTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS had similar diagnostic performance for predicting thyroid nodule malignancy with sensitivity >93% for all systems when considering ultrasound Grade 4-5 as malignant and Grade 1-2 as benign. ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS both had a significantly lower rate of recommended FNA in benign nodules compared to BTA. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS have comparable diagnostic performance with high sensitivity but relatively low specificity for predicting thyroid nodule malignancy in this cohort using histology as gold-standard. Using Grade 1-2 as benign and 4-5 as malignant there were more false negatives with TIRADS but this improved when taking other features into account while BTA had a significantly higher rate of unnecessary FNA.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overBiopsy, Fine-NeedleFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm GradingPractice Guidelines as TopicPredictive Value of TestsRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityThyroidectomy

Identifiers

PMID33989038
PMCPMC8248201
OpenAlexW3163381155

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.