Correlation of high-resolution ultrasonography findings of thyroid nodules with ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology in detecting malignant nodules: A retrospective study in Malabar region of Kerala, South India

AIMS: The purpose of our study is to assess the role of high-resolution real-time gray-scale ultrasonography with ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in detecting malignant nodules in the thyroid gland. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It is a retrospective study of 25 patients (aged 16–63 years) who underwent high-resolution ultrasound (HRUSG) of the thyroid gland and ultrasound-guided FNAC from February 2017 till November 31, 2017. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 25 patients with thyroid nodules detected at ultrasound were included in this study. The characteristics of each nodule were determined. The results were then compared with FNAC (ultrasound-guided) findings. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were used. RESULTS: Of the 25 nodules examined, 5 (20%) were found to be malignant on cytology. CONCLUSIONS: Gray-scale ultrasound features of thyroid nodules are useful to distinguish malignant thyroid nodules from those with benign nodules. From our study, it is obvious that the HRUSG findings of hypoechogenicity, microcalcification, and poorly defined margins have high diagnostic accuracy for identifying malignant thyroid nodules.