Prevalence of Thyroid Cancer and the Association between Ultrasound Features of Neck Masses and Thyroid Cancer at Rayong Hospital
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography is an essential tool in the evaluation of thyroid nodules. At Rayong Hospital, the diagnostic and treatment approaches follow the American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines, which classify thyroid nodules into various risk categories based on ultrasound features. However, the ultrasonographic characteristics that indicate a risk of malignancy may vary across different studies.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the correlation between the ultrasound characteristics of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, and to determine the prevalence of thyroid cancer among patients at Rayong Hospital.
METHODS: This retrospective study collected data from the databases of Rayong Hospital. The study included patients who were diagnosed with thyroid nodules using ultrasound and who underwent fine-needle aspiration (FNA) between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023. Chi-square statistics and logistic regression were used for data analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 201 patients were included in the study, comprising 172 females (85.6%) and 29 males (14.4%), with a mean age of 51.4±15.5 years. Among them, 17 cases (94.4%) were diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Statistically significant ultrasound features associated with thyroid cancer included the presence of a solitary nodule (adjOR=7.29; 95%CI: 1.22–43.57, p=0.03) and microcalcifications (adjOR=8.57; 95% CI: 2.20–33.35; p=0.002).
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of thyroid cancer was calculated as 9.0%, and the ultrasound features of the thyroid nodules, as classified by ATA guidelines, that were significantly associated with thyroid malignancy included the number of solitary nodules and the presence of microcalcifications.
Thaiclinicaltrials.org number, TCTR20250530006
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