Malignancy Risk of Paediatric Thyroid Nodules Classified According to the Bethesda System
Authors' conclusion
Our findings indicate that the malignancy rates for all categories of the Bethesda system were higher in paediatric patients than in adults, including a substantial proportion of cytologically benign nodules. Moreover, our observed rates exceeded those previously reported in comparable studies of the paediatric population, as indicated by the American Thyroid Association guidelines. We propose a more intensive approach for paediatric patients with suspected clinical or sonographic features.
Study context
- Population
- Patients aged ≤ 19 years who underwent thyroid surgery following fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of a suspicious nodule, 2001–2019, two tertiary medical centres; mean age 14.8 years, 79.5% female, mean nodule size 24.8 mm
- Participants
- 121 patients
- Exposure
- Bethesda cytological categories B1–B6 vs final pathology
- B1n = 2
- B2n = 50
- B3n = 19
- B4n = 17
- B5n = 10
- B6n = 23
- Outcome
- Malignancy risk (prevalence of malignancy on final pathology) per Bethesda cytological category
Methodological detailstwo tertiary medical centres
- Two tertiary medical centres
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Malignancy risk by Bethesda category
- Malignant nodules on final pathology, overall
- 66 (54.5%)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Malignancy Risk of Paediatric Thyroid Nodules Classified According to the Bethesda System. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). Published 28 May 2025. doi:10.
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