Background.Ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the gold standard in diagnosing the pathological nature of undetermined thyroid nodules. However, in some instances limitations and shortcomings arise, making it insufficient for determining a specific diagnosis.Objective.Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of ACR TI-RADS classification of neck ultrasound as a first-line diagnostic approach for thyroid neoplasms in pediatric patients.Methods.A retrospective analysis was made of FNA and US protocols in 70 patients who underwent the examination and treatment at Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center between January 2012 and August 2017. In the retrospective series 70% (49/70) of patients undergone FNA and 43% (30/70) of them undergone repeated FNA. All US protocols were interpreted according to ACR TI-RADS system by the two independent experts. The clinical judgment was assessed using the concordance test and the reliability of preoperative diagnostic methods was analized.Results.According to histologic examination protocols, benign nodules reported greater multimorbidity 29% (20/70), compared with thyroid cancer 17% (12/70), complicating FNA procedure. A statistically significant predictor of thyroid cancer with a tumor size ACR TI-RADS showed a significant advantage of ACR TI-RADS due to higher sensitivity (97.6 vs 60%), specificity (78.6 vs 53.8%), positive predictive value (87.2 vs 71.4%), and negative predictive value (95.7 vs 41.2%). Concordance on the interpreted US protocols according to ACR TI-RADS classification between two experts was high, excluding accidental coincidence.Conclusion.The data support the feasibility of US corresponding to the ACR TI-RADS classification as a first-line diagnostic approach for thyroid neoplasm reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies for thyroid nodules.
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