Ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules: assessment of malignancy using the British Thyroid Association classification.

This article focuses on evaluating the correlation between ultrasonographic features of thyroid nodules, classified by the British Thyroid Association (BTA) U system, and their pathological outcomes determined by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology using the Bethesda classification. In a retrospective study of 503 solid thyroid nodules, hypoechoic solid nodules, central vascularization, solitary nodules, and microcalcifications on ultrasonography were significantly associated with malignancy, with an overall malignancy rate of 11.3%. The BTA U classification showed a fair agreement with Bethesda cytology, particularly strong in benign (U2) and malignant (U5) categories, and logistic regression analysis using ultrasonographic variables achieved an 85.5% accuracy in predicting malignancy. The findings support the use of ultrasonography combined with US-guided FNA as effective tools for risk stratification, diagnosis, and management of thyroid nodules.