Thyroid nodules are detected in up to 68% of general population and malignancies are observed in 3-10% of cases [1,2]. The critical role of the radiologists is to detect and characterize thyroid nodules with ultrasound (US) and US-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) serving as a diagnostic cornerstones [3]. US and FNAB ensure the identification of thyroid nodules that need to be removed, such as malignancies and indeterminate follicular lesions, also reducing the number of unnecessary surgical procedures in favour of both conservative and minimally...

Study design and population This retrospective study included a consecutive series of patients referred for US-guided FNAB of a thyroid nodule from the Endocrinology Department of our University Hospital over a period of 3 months. All patients were older than 18 years of age and eligible for thyroid nodule FNAB according to the current international guidelines for thyroid nodule management [10-12]. Exclusion criteria were: (i) non-diagnostic specimen obtained after cytological analysis, i.e. Thy 1 according to the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology [13]; and...

A series of 79 patients (20 men, 69 women; age 61 ± 12 years) were referred for US-guided FNAB of a thyroid nodule. Among them, 17 patients were excluded due to non-diagnostic specimen after cytological analysis (8 cases) or oblique rather than axial thyroid nodule US image available for post-processing (9 cases). Sixty-two patients (12 men, 50 women; age 60 ± 12 years) entered this study. 44% (27 out of 62) of thyroid nodules were located in the right lobe, 50% (31 out of 62)...

This CAD system is less sensitive than an experienced radiologist and showed slight-to-substantial agreement with the radiologist for the characterization of thyroid nodules. Thus, although it is an innovative tool with good potential that may be helpful for inexperienced users, additional efforts are needed to improve its diagnostic accuracy. Future studies on this CAD system under the use of operators with various levels of experience are needed to determine its clinical validity.

[1] Guth S, Theune U, Aberle J, Galach A, Bamberger CM. Very high prevalence of thyroid nodules detected by high frequency (13 MHz) ultrasound examination. European journal of clinical investigation. 2009;39:699-706. [2] Wolinski K, Stangierski A, Ruchala M. Comparison of diagnostic yield of core-needle and fine-needle aspiration biopsies of thyroid lesions: Systematic review and meta-analysis. European radiology. 2017;27:431-6. [3] Mittendorf EA, Tamarkin SW, McHenry CR. The results of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy for evaluation of nodular thyroid disease. Surgery. 2002;132:648-53; discussion 53-4. [4] Mainini AP,...