Clinical Study
B-Flow Twinkling Sign in Preoperative Evaluation of Cervical Lymph Nodes in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Table 2
The diagnostic performance of the combination of each conventional ultrasound signs with the BFI-TS.
| Combined US features
| Total lymph nodes (604) | Metastatic lymph nodes (298) | Sensitivity (%) | Specificity (%) | | PPV | NPV |
| Round shape Short to long axis (diameter ratio > 0.5) + BFI-TS | 126 | 125 | 41.9 | 99.7 | 158.4 0.0000 | 99.2 | 63.8 |
| Abnormal echogenicity + BFI-TS | 200 | 200 | 67.1 | 100 | 307 0.0000 | 100 | 75.7 |
| Absence of the hilum + BFI-TS | 221 | 221 | 74.2 | 100 | 357.9 0.0000 | 100 | 78.9 |
| Calcification + BFI-TS | 92 | 92 | 30.9 | 100 | 111.4 0.0000 | 100 | 59.8 |
| Cystic change + BFI-TS | 61 | 61 | 20.5 | 100 | 69.7 0.0000 | 100 | 56.4 |
| Peripheral vascularity + BFI-TS | 117 | 116 | 39.9 | 99.7 | 144 0.0000 | 99.1 | 62.6 |
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US: ultrasound; LNs: lymph nodes; PPV: positive predictive value; NPV: negative predictive value; BFI-TS: B-flow imaging twinkling sign.
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