Low reproducibility of equivocal categories of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology makes the associated risk of malignancy specific to the diagnostic center.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Equivocal categories (III, IV, V) of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (BSRTC) are characterized by high variability of the estimated risk of malignancy. The aim of the study was to analyze the reproducibility of classification of nodules into an equivocal category and the frequency of malignancy (FoM) observed in such categories.

Methods

Five experienced cytopathologists from three centers (A, B, C) independently performed reclassification of smears obtained from 213 thyroid nodules with equivocal routine cytology and known results of the postoperative histopathological examination.

Results

The interobserver agreement among all cytopathologists was poor, with a Krippendorff's alpha coefficient equaling 0.34. The intra-center agreement was hig

SUBMITTER: Slowinska-Klencka D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8497291 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature