SynthesisReviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders2023
Prevalence and significance of indeterminate calcitonin values in patients with thyroid nodules: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Combining Procalcitonin and Calcitonin for the Diagnosis of Medullary Thyroid Cancer: A Two-Step Approach.Clinical endocrinology · 2025Article
- Minimal or absent tumor desmoplasia predicts lower recurrence risk in papillary thyroid carcinoma.European thyroid journal · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a novel nomogram for predicting lateral lymph node metastasis in medullary thyroid carcinoma.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
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- Article
- Non-secretory medullary thyroid carcinoma with laryngotracheal invasion: a case report and review of the literature.AME case reports · 2024Article
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- Appropriate and mindful measurement of serum calcitonin in patients with thyroid nodules. A white paper.Endocrine · 2024Article
- A practical nomogram for preoperatively predicting lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in medullary thyroid carcinoma: a dual-center retrospective study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough calcitonin (Ctn) measurement is recognized as the most accurate diagnostic test for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), its routine execution is not universally accepted for several reasons, including the lack of recommendations for managing indeterminate Ctn values (ICV); such as 10-to-100 pg/mL. This study aimed to gather data on 1) the frequency of ICV among patients undergoing Ctn test and 2) the MTC rate among patients with ICV.
methodsThis review was conducted according to the Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. PubMed and Cochrane databases were searched, with no language restrictions. The final search was completed on January 2023. Then, quality assessment and proportion meta-analyses were performed.
resultsThe online search retrieved 233 articles and 15 were included for quantitative analysis. The risk of bias was low. The number of patients undergone Ctn testing was 29,533. The pooled percentage of those with ICV was 1.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.2-2.3). The pooled proportion of MTC incidence among patients with ICV was 9.6% (95% CI:5-14.1). Heterogeneity was explained by the covariates of Ctn assay sensitivity and the resection rate. The subgroup with Ctn 10-20 pg/mL showed a significantly lower MTC rate than the subgroup with Ctn 20-100 pg/mL.
conclusionsThe percentage of ICV among patients with thyroid nodules who underwent Ctn testing is negligible. The rate of MTC in patients with ICV cannot be overlooked. Among the ICV intervals, the risk of MTC increases significantly when Ctn is above 20 pg/mL.
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