Diagnostic reliability of elastography in thyroid nodules reported as indeterminate at prior fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC): a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.

Abstract

To assess the diagnostic yields of elastography in thyroid nodules reported as indeterminate in FNAC according to guidelines. Databases of Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Central were searched till 31 October 2019. Two different reviewers check the studies and extracted the data. The diagnostic accuracy and yield were quantitatively synthesized using Bayesian bivariate model in R. Twenty studies with 1734 indeterminate thyroid nodules undergoing elastography were included. The summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity were 0.766 (95% credible interval (CrI), 0.686-0.835) and 0.867 (95% CrI, 0.780-0.931), respectively. The summary estimate for diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 25.9 (95% CrI, 12.8-46.2). Summary receiver operating characteristic plots for elastography showed a right-diagonal curvilinear relationship, suggesting a trade-off between sensitivity and specificity, and the estimate of area under curve (AUC) was 0.743. The summary estimates for positive and negative likelihood ratios were 6.6 (95% CrI, 4.2-11.3) and 0.27 (95% CrI, 0.21-0.36), respectively. Elastography had fair diagnostic yields in indeterminate thyroid nodules. Shear wave elastography and strain ratio elastography could be more efficient in diagnosis and should evolve in the next years while combing elastography with ultrasound would contribute more to sensitivity and specificity currently. • Elastography has fair diagnostic yields in indeterminate thyroid nodules. • Shear wave elastography and strain ratio elastography are more efficient than real-time elastography. • Combining elastography and other ultrasound techniques improves evaluation of indeterminate thyroid nodules.