Background: Thyroid nodules are an exceedingly common finding on neck sonography. Ultrasound is the most commonly used imaging technique for the evaluation of thyroid nodules. Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) of the thyroid is the single most useful diagnostic test for evaluating thyroid nodules.
Aim of Work: To investigate the performance of US imaging and color flow mapping in identification of thyroid nodules indicated for FNA to predict thyroid cancer to avoid unnecessary interventions.
Patients and Methods: Type of Study: Cross sectional study. Study Setting: The study was conducted at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Study Period: from December 2020 to September 2021. Study Population: Patients undergoing Neck US for thyroid nodules.
Results: The correct interpretation of thyroid ultrasound report using the ACR-TIRADS criteria helps to facilitate the identification of highly suspicious nodules. The aggregate risk of malignancy increased as the TIRADS level increased from TR 1 to TR 5 (P-value <0.001). Intranodular vascularity and high resistive indices (RI) were few of the specific signs for malignant thyroid nodules in our study (P-value <0.005).
Conclusion: The present study concludes that US features (ACR-TIRADS) along with color and pulse Doppler should be used as first line imaging modality in evaluations of thyroid nodules. An excellent correlation was seen in diagnosis of thyroid lesions between sonography and FNA.