Comparison of British Thyroid Association, American College of Radiology TIRADS and artificial intelligence TIRADS with histological correlation : diagnostic performance for predicting thyroid malignancy and unnecessary fine needle aspiration rate

Watkins, Linda and O'Neill, Greg and Young, David and McArthur, Claire (2021) Comparison of British Thyroid Association, American College of Radiology TIRADS and artificial intelligence TIRADS with histological correlation : diagnostic performance for predicting thyroid malignancy and unnecessary fine needle aspiration rate. British Journal of Radiology, 94 (1123). 20201444. ISSN 0007-1285 (https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20201444)

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare diagnostic performance of British Thyroid Association (BTA), American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR-TIRADS) and Artificial Intelligence TIRADS (AI-TIRADS) for thyroid nodule malignancy. To determine comparative unnecessary fine needle aspiration (FNA) rates. METHODS: 218 thyroid nodules with definitive histology obtained during 2017 were included. Ultrasound images were reviewed retrospectively in consensus by two subspecialist radiologists, blinded to histopathology, and nodules assigned a BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS grade. Nodule laterality and size were recorded to allow accurate histopathological correlation and determine which nodules met criteria for FNA. RESULTS: 77 (35.3%) nodules were malignant. Deeming ultrasound Grade 4-5 as test-positive and 1-2 as test-negative, sensitivity and specificity for BTA was 98.28 and 42.55%, for ACR-TIRADS: 95.24 and 40.57% and for AI-TIRADS: 93.44 and 45.71%. FNA was indicated in 101 (71.6%), 67 (47.5%) and 65 (46.1%) benign nodules utilising BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS respectively. The unnecessary FNA rate was significantly higher with BTA (46.3%) compared to ACR-TIRADS (30.7%) and AI-TIRADS (29.8%) p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS had similar diagnostic performance for predicting thyroid nodule malignancy with sensitivity >93% for all systems when considering ultrasound Grade 4-5 as malignant and Grade 1-2 as benign. ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS both had a significantly lower rate of recommended FNA in benign nodules compared to BTA. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: BTA, ACR-TIRADS and AI-TIRADS have comparable diagnostic performance with high sensitivity but relatively low specificity for predicting thyroid nodule malignancy in this cohort using histology as gold-standard. Using Grade 1-2 as benign and 4-5 as malignant there were more false negatives with TIRADS but this improved when taking other features into account while BTA had a significantly higher rate of unnecessary FNA.

ORCID iDs

Watkins, Linda, O'Neill, Greg, Young, David ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3652-0513 and McArthur, Claire;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:76480
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    1 July 2021
    Published
    14 May 2021
    Published Online
    29 April 2021
    Accepted
    Subjects:Medicine
    Department:Faculty of Science > Mathematics and Statistics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:18 May 2021 12:21
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 13:05
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/76480
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