Assessment of the relationship between clinical and histopathological features in cases of thyroidectomy

Abstract

AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between clinical parameters and ultimate histopathologic fea- tures of patients underwent thyroid surgery.

METHOD: Demographic and clinicopathologic parameters of patients who underwent thyroid surgery for benign or malig- nant disease in our clinic between June 2006 and March 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Pearson’s Chi-Square, Independent Sample T test, ROC Curve and Youden J Index were used to investigate whether there was any relation- ship between the clinical parameters and permanent histopathologic features of patients.

RESULTS: A total of 3059 patients (Benign: 2727; Malign: 332) aged between 15 and 90 years were reviewed. The patients age was higher in malign group (mean ± SD: 46.8 ± 4.2) than benign group (mean ± SD: 43.7 ± 12.9 yr) and this difference was statistically significant (p <0.001). The nodule diameter (mean ± SD: 30.8 ± 13.5 mm) was greater in malign group than the benign group (mean ± SD: 28.3 ± 13.4 mm) and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.002). The sensitivity and specificity rates of the most appropriate cut-off point (> 26 mm) for the nodule size were 60% and 49.05%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive val- ue and accuracy of FNAB were calculated as 4.17 %, 100 %, 100 %, 89.96% and 90 %, respectively.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that higher age and greater nodule diameter (> 26 mm) are associated with malig- nancy.