Open AccessTips for improving consistency of thyroid nodule interpretation with ACR TI-RADS
Author(s) -
Gavin Low,
Meredith Bara,
Yang Du,
Prayash Katlariwala,
Roger Croutze,
Katrin Resch,
Jonathan Porter,
Medica Sam,
Mitchell P Wilson
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of ultrasonography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.146
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2451-070X
pISSN - 2084-8404
DOI - 10.15557/jou.2022.0009
Subject(s) - medicine , overdiagnosis , thyroid nodules , risk stratification , echogenicity , nodule (geology) , radiology , consistency (knowledge bases) , thyroid , population , ultrasound , artificial intelligence , computer science , paleontology , environmental health , biology
Thyroid nodules are very common in the general population. Most are benign and even those that are malignant are typically slow-growing and do not require treatment. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of thyroid nodules has resulted in significant healthcare costs. ACR TI-RADS was developed to address these concerns, and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies and follow-up intervals. ACR TI-RADS offers a point-based risk stratification system centered on five sonographic features: consistency, echogenicity, shape, margins and echogenic foci. While the system has noticeable benefits and comparable accuracy with other available risk stratification systems (ATA, EU-TIRADS and K-TIRADS), there are inherent challenges relating to suboptimal inter-reader agreement. In this article, we include 10 educational tips that may be helpful to the ultrasound practitioner for improving the consistency of nodule interpretation with ACR TI-RADS.