Evaluating diagnostic accuracy and agreement of TI-RADS scoring in thyroid nodules: A comparative analysis between sonographers and radiologists.

Autor: Alfuraih AM; Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Kharj, Saudi Arabia., Alotaibi AM; Research Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., Alshammari AK; Ultrasound Unit, Radiology Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., Alrashied BF; Ultrasound Unit, Radiology Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., Mashhor YM; Radiology Department, Altakassusi Alliance Medical, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., Mahmoud M; Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia., Alsaadi MJ; Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2024 Oct 11; Vol. 19 (10), pp. e0312121. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 11 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312121
Abstrakt: Objective: The Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) is an essential tool for assessing thyroid nodules, primarily used by radiologists. This study aimed to compare the agreement of TI-RADS scores between sonographers and radiologists and to assess the diagnostic performance of these scores against histological findings in suspicious thyroid nodules.
Methods: In a retrospective analysis, 168 patients with suspicious thyroid nodules classified as TR3 and above by the radiologists were included. Both sonographers and radiologists independently assigned the American College of Radiologists (ACR) TI-RADS scores, which were then compared for inter-reader agreement using Cohen's Kappa statistic. The scores were also evaluated for diagnostic performance against histological results based on the Bethesda system.
Results: The study revealed a moderate overall agreement between sonographers and radiologists in TI-RADS scoring (κ = 0.504; 95% CI: 0.409-0.599), with poor agreement noted specifically for nodule margin scores (κ = 0.102; 95% CI: -1.430-0.301). In terms of diagnostic performance against histological outcomes, sonographers' TI-RADS scores showed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 44.6%, while radiologists' scores showed a sensitivity of 100% but a lower specificity of 29.3%.
Conclusion: The findings indicate moderate agreement in TI-RADS scoring between sonographers and radiologists, with reproducibility challenges especially in scoring nodule margins. The marginally superior diagnostic performance of sonographers' scores suggests potential efficiency benefits in involving sonographers in preliminary assessments. Future research should aim to encompass a wider range of TI-RADS categories and focus on minimizing scoring variability to enhance the system's clinical utility.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Alfuraih et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje