Ultrasound Assessment of Synchronous Thyroid Nodules in Patients With Papillary Thyroid Cancer: A Nodule-by-nodule Analysis Between Ultrasound and Pathology

BACKGROUND/AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of preoperative ultrasound (US) in the assessment of synchronous thyroid nodules in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) for determination of surgical extent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 210 consecutive patients who were surgically diagnosed with PTC were included in this study. Synchronous nodules, divided into probably benign and suspicious nodules based on US findings, were correlated with pathologic results using a nodule-by-nodule analysis. RESULTS: Among the 302 synchronous nodules in 129 patients, 83 (27.5%) synchronous nodules in 73 patients were diagnosed as malignant after surgery. Ipsilateral probably benign nodules on US were more likely to be malignant than contralateral probably benign nodules (ipsilateral, 10.6%; contralateral, 2.0%, p=0.015). The presence of suspicious contralateral nodules on US and the number of synchronous nodules were significant factors related to contralateral cancer (p<0.001 and 0.030). CONCLUSION: For evaluation of synchronous nodules in PTC patients, US assessment for synchronous nodules can be applied for preserving the contralateral lobe.