Midkine: A Novel Biomarker to Predict Malignancy in Patients with Nodular Thyroid Disease

Table 2

Sonographic correlations of SMK/NMK concentrations.

Sonographic features	SMK	NMK
Nodule volume
<10 mL	0.60 (0.30–4.97)	0.52 (0.37–1.73)
10–20 mL	0.63 (0.33–4.13)	0.57 (0.35–1.50)
>20 mL	0.63 (0.33–2.47)	0.55 (0.35–0.97)
	0.809	0.658
Nodular echogenicity
Hypoechoic	0.90 (0.47–4.97)	0.59 (0.35–1.73)
Hyperechoic	0.55 (0.40–0.93)	0.55 (0.40–0.68)
Isoechoic	0.53 (0.30–1.47)	0.48 (0.35–0.80)
	<0.001	0.003
Calcification
Microcalcification	1.20 (0.60–4.13)	0.60 (0.43–1.50)
Macrocalcification	0.63 (0.37–1.10)	0.56 (0.35–0.65)
No calcification	0.57 (0.30–4.97)	0.52 (0.35–1.73)
	0.001	0.308
Border
Regular	0.59 (0.30–4.97)	0.49 (0.35–1.73)
Irregular	0.90 (0.37–2.77)	0.60 (0.40–1.45)
	0.015	0.001
Halo
Present	0.57 (0.30–4.97)	0.50 (0.35–1.73)
Absent	0.70 (0.37–4.13)	0.58 (0.35–1.50)
	0.003	0.019
Nodule structure
Heterogeneous	0.67 (0.30–4.13)	0.57 (0.35–1.57)
Homogeneous	0.53 (0.40–4.97)	0.48 (0.38–1.73)
	0.023	0.031
Number of nodules
Solitary	0.70 (0.47–2.77)	0.57 (0.38–1.45)
Multiple	0.60 (0.30–4.97)	0.53 (0.35–1.73)
	0.198	0.356

(Hint: : statistically significant.)