Ultrasonography in Management of Nodular Thyroid Disease
Authors: Matthew C. Leinung, Andrew Gianoukakis, Daniel W. Lee
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2001)

Letters4 September 2001Ultrasonography in Management of Nodular Thyroid DiseaseMatthew C. Leinung, MD, Andrew Gianoukakis, MD, and Daniel W. Lee, MDMatthew C. Leinung, MDAlbany Medical College; Albany, NY 12208 (Leinung), (Gianoukakis), (Lee)Search for more papers by this author, Andrew Gianoukakis, MDAlbany Medical College; Albany, NY 12208 (Leinung), (Gianoukakis), (Lee)Search for more papers by this author, and Daniel W. Lee, MDAlbany Medical College; Albany, NY 12208 (Leinung), (Gianoukakis), (Lee)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-135-5-200109040-00023 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Since up to 67% of patients with no history of thyroid disease are found to have nodules on ultrasonography, routine use of this test will lead to the discovery of many clinically insignificant lesions (1). The finding by Marqusee and colleagues (2) that clinical management changed after ultrasonography in 63% of patients merely reflects the sensitivity of ultrasonography and the study's design. The authors performed routine fine-needle aspiration for lesions that were at least 1 cm in diameter. Fine-needle aspiration has a positive predictive value of 50% and a false-positive rate of 3% (3) and therefore leads ...References1. Ezzat S, Sarti DA, Cain DR, Braunstein GD. Thyroid incidentalomas. Prevalence by palpation and ultrasonography. Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:1838-40. [PMID: 8053752] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Marqusee E, Benson CB, Frates MC, Doubilet PM, Larsen PR, Cibas ES, et al . Usefulness of ultrasonography in the management of nodular thyroid disease. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:696-700. [PMID: 11074902] LinkGoogle Scholar3. Gharib H. Changing concepts in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 1997;26:777-800. [PMID: 9429860] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Tan GH, Gharib H. Thyroid incidentalomas: management approaches to nonpalpable nodules discovered incidentally on thyroid imaging. Ann Intern Med. 1997;126:226-31. [PMID: 9027275] LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Albany Medical College; Albany, NY 12208 (Leinung), (Gianoukakis), (Lee) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoUsefulness of Ultrasonography in the Management of Nodular Thyroid Disease Ellen Marqusee , Carol B. Benson , Mary C. Frates , Peter M. Doubilet , P. Reed Larsen , Edmund S. Cibas , and Susan J. Mandel Ultrasonography in Management of Nodular Thyroid Disease Jorge L. Gross Ultrasonography in Management of Nodular Thyroid Disease Ellen Marqusee , P. Reed Larsen , and Susan J. Mandel Metrics Cited byCharacterization of Thyroid Cancer in Mouse Models Using High-Frequency Quantitative Ultrasound TechniquesComparison of Palpation-Guided Versus Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsies of Thyroid Nodules in an Outpatient Endocrinology PracticeReply to Dr. Baskin’s Letter to the Editor: Re: Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules: Are Endocrinologists Assessing Patients Efficiently 4 September 2001Volume 135, Issue 5Page: 383KeywordsBiopsyDeath ratesLesionsPositive predictive valueSurgeryThyroidThyroid carcinomaThyroid diseasesUltrasound imaging ePublished: 4 September 2001 Issue Published: 4 September 2001 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2001 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...