USEFULNESS OF TIRADS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN THYROID ULTRASONOGRAPHY

Ultrasonography (US) is the modality of choice for initial characterisation of a thyroid nodule and selecting thyroid nodules that should be assessed by Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).Thyroid nodules (TNs) may show highly diverse ultrasound patterns which often impairs an accurate classification regarding malignancy. However, fewer than 5.0%- 6.5% of incidentally discovered thyroid nodules are malignant 6 . There are several classification systems which categorise thyroid nodules according to the risk of cancer.4, 7-9Of the many classification systems that have been described, Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS) described by Kwak et al .4 is a relativelysimple system which can be easily adopted, just like Breast ImagingReporting and Data System (BIRADS) which has been successfully used for several years to assess breast lesions. 10 Similar to BI-RADS, the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) was developed for risk stratification of thyroid nodules using US features (Table.1). Many organisations have recommended guidelines for the selection of thyroid nodules for biopsy using size criteria or suspicious US features. For this reason, in 2009 Horvath et al 1 proposed an evaluation system for TNs called TI-RADS (Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System), similar to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 2-4 . The aim of this study was to verify the usefulness of TI-RADS classification system in thyroid ultrasonography.