Grey-Scale Analysis Improves the Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules.

Ultrasonography is the main imaging method for the workup of thyroid nodules. However, interobserver agreement reported for echogenicity and echotexture is quite low. The aim of this study was to perform quantitative measurements of the degree of echogenicity and heterogeneity of thyroid nodules, to develop an objective and reproducible method to stratify these features to predict malignancy.

Influence of thyrotropin and thyroid volume on basal serum calcitonin.

Thyroid volume was found to be a determinant of serum calcitonin levels in animal models and in thyroid-healthy subjects, as recently reported. This study aims to evaluate if this finding is confirmed in patients undergoing ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology of suspicious thyroid nodules. A dataset of 561 patients including basal serum FT4, FT3, TSH, calcitonin, thyroid volume, anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb), and cytology report, was retrospectively analysed.

A comprehensive score to diagnose Hashimoto's thyroiditis: a proposal.

The heterogeneity of diagnostic criteria of Hashimoto's thyroiditis leads to overdiagnosis and prevents strong conclusions from being drawn in clinical studies. The aim of this study is to propose a comprehensive scoring system. A case-control study compared a set of presurgical features of patients with lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid (Hashimoto's thyroiditis) and controls, in order to design a multi-criteria scoring system.

Thyroid autoimmunity and risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules submitted to fine-needle aspiration cytology.

Background: Whether the risk of cancer is increased in patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis is a controversial issue.

Methods: Between May 2005 and October 2012, 3777 fine-needle aspiration cytologies (FNACs) were performed on 2562 patients. Serum FT4, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), and anti-thyroperoxidase antibody (TPOAb) were determined.

Intrinsic factors affecting adequacy of thyroid nodule fine-needle aspiration cytology.

Objective: To evaluate intrinsic nodule features predictive of an inadequate report in fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).

Design: Single-centre cross-sectional study.

Methods: Between May 2005 and April 2011, 3279 ultrasonography-assisted FNACs were carried out and features of nodules recorded prospectively.