Usefulness of ultrasonography is the evaluation of thyroid nodules.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic capacity of ultrasonography (US) for differentiating between malignant and benign thyroid nodules and its usefulness in obviating unnecessary invasive procedures.

Patients And Methods: From January 2012 through December 2014, a total of 321 fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) procedures were done in 302 patients selected according to the criteria recommended by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology guidelines and the American Thyroid Association guidelines. We analyzed the following characteristics on US: location, size, morphology, contour, consistency, echostructure, echogenicity, calcifications, and vascularization.