The Relationship Between 3 Dimensional Measurement Ratios of Solid Thyroid Nodules and Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the ratios of craniocaudal (CC), anteropos- terior (AP), and mediolateral (ML) measurements to each other are useful in diagnosing thyroid papillary carcinoma by ultrasound. Methods: The patients who have a solid thyroid nodule on ultrasonography which were diagnosed by a histopathological examination after a trucut fine needle biopsy were included in this study. Proportions of all three dimensions to one another were recorded. Results: A total of 173 patients with a mean age of 44.49±14.54 years were included. Of the patients included in the study, 137 (79.19%) were female and 38 (20.81%) were male. AP/ML ratio (p=0.016) and CC/ML ratio showed a significant difference between thyroid papillary carcinoma group and benign nodule groups. Furthermore, a cut-off value of 0.7 AP/ML ratio showed sensitivity and specificity of 0.667 and 0.45, respectively. Conclusion: AP/ML ratio shows association with increased thyroid papillary carcinoma risk. CC/ML is also associated with increased risk. These rates may also contribute to clinical practice as a diagnostic tool.