Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy with BRAF Analysis and Elastography are Slightly More Efficient in Diagnosing Papillary Thyroid Cancers than FNAB and Thyroid Ultrasound

Results The results of the histologic workup were as follows: 74 (45%) were benign nodules and 90 were malignant; 73 of the malignant nodules were classical papillary thyroid cancers, 10 were the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), 5 were follicular cancers, and 2 were medullary cancers. Of these nodules, 37 had a diameter <1 cm and 58 were positive for BRAF mutations, 54 of which harbored the mutation V600E. BRAF mutation analysis was particularly useful in nodules with high elasticity (scale 1), in which the malignancy would have been missed without it. BRAF mutations were detected in 70% of all PTCs.