ULTRASOUND CRITERIA FOR FINE NEEDLE CYTOLOGYINDICATION: EFFICACY IN NODULES THYROID CYSTICS.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the safety and accuracy of the TI-RADS ultrasound criteria for the indication of fine
needle cytology in cystic thyroid nodules. Materials and methods: A descriptive, longitudinal, prospective
study was carried out in 64 patients attended at the Hospital "Hermanos Ameijeiras" from July 2017 to July
2019. The variables were determined: ultrasound criteria for puncture, histopathological result and
ultrasound result. The prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value,
falsehood criteria and accuracy were checked. The strength of correlation was determined through
Spearman's coefficients. Results: The prevalence of lesions suggestive of malignancy by ultrasound was
38/100 cases with cystic nodules. The ultrasound study reported patterns suggestive of malignancy
(TI-RADS 5) in 14.06% of the cystic thyroid nodules, confirming follicular neoplasia (Bethesda IV) in 88.89%.
The estimation of the accuracy and safety yielded: sensitivity (61.54%), specificity (98.04%), positive
predictive value (88.89%) and negative predictive value (90.91%). The correlation between the ultrasound
diagnosis by TI-RADS and the cytohistopathological report by Bethesda was moderate positive with a Rho
Spearman (0.84; p <0.001). Conclusions: Taking a cytology sample by ultrasound-guided fine needle
aspiration reduces false negatives. The TI-RADS criteria are effective in the initial evaluation of thyroid
cystic nodules.