Biomedicines, Vol. 12, Pages 1676: Thyroid Nodule Characterization: Overview and State of the Art of Diagnosis with Recent Developments, From Imaging to Molecular Diagnosis and Artificial Intelligence

Biomedicines, Vol. 12, Pages 1676: Thyroid Nodule Characterization: Overview and State of the Art of Diagnosis with Recent Developments, From Imaging to Molecular Diagnosis and Artificial Intelligence

Biomedicines doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12081676

Authors: Emanuele David Hektor Grazhdani Giuliana Tattaresu Alessandra Pittari Pietro Valerio Foti Stefano Palmucci Corrado Spatola Maria Chiara Lo Greco Corrado Inì Francesco Tiralongo Davide Castiglione Giampiero Mastroeni Silvia Gigli Antonio Basile

Ultrasound (US) is the primary tool for evaluating patients with thyroid nodules, and the risk of malignancy assessed is based on US features. These features help determine which patients require fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. Classification systems for US features have been developed to facilitate efficient interpretation, reporting, and communication of thyroid US findings. These systems have been validated by numerous studies and are reviewed in this article. Additionally, this overview provides a comprehensive description of the clinical and laboratory evaluation of patients with thyroid nodules, various imaging modalities, grayscale US features, color Doppler US, contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), US elastography, FNA biopsy assessment, and the recent introduction of molecular testing. The potential of artificial intelligence in thyroid US is also discussed.