Assessment of clinical and pathological features of patients who underwent thyroid surgery: A retrospective clinical study

AIM To evaluate whether there was any correlation between the clinical parameters and final pathological results among patients who underwent thyroid surgery. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed parameters, including age, sex, complete blood cell count parameters, nodule diameter, nodule localization, thyroid function testing, and pathology reports, in patients who underwent thyroid surgery. The patients were divided into malignant (n = 92) and benign (n = 413) groups depending on the final pathological results. Both groups were compared for demographic and clinical parameters. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was used to determine if the quantitative variables had a normal distribution. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare quantitative data that were not normally distributed, and Pearson's chi-squared test was used to compare the qualitative data. The correlation between the final pathological results and fine-needle aspiration biopsy findings was calculated using the cross-tabulation method. RESULTS This study included 406 women and 99 men aged between 15 and 85 years. No significant differences were found between the groups with respect to age, sex, white blood cell count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, thrombocyte count, red cell distribution width, platelet distribution width, mean platelet volume, platecrit, nodule localization, and thyroid function testing. On the other hand, there were significant differences between the groups with respect to nodule size (P = 0.001), cervical lymphadenopathy (P = 0.0001) and nodular calcification (P = 0.0001). Compared with the malignant group, the benign group had a significantly greater nodule size (35.4 mm vs 27.6 mm). The best cut-off point (≤ 28 mm) for nodule size, as determined by the receiver operating characteristic curve, had a sensitivity and specificity of 67.7% and 64.4%, respectively. The correlation between fine-needle aspiration biopsy and the final pathological results was assessed using the cross-table method. The sensitivity and specificity of fine-needle aspiration biopsy were 60% and 98%, respectively. CONCLUSION This study showed that significant differences existed between the malignant and benign groups with regard to nodule size, cervical lymphadenopathy, and nodular calcification.