Correlation between Ultrasonographic Appearance of Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma and BRAF V600E Mutation

Table 2

Correlation between the ultrasonographic appearances of PTMC and nodular thyroid goiter.

Factor	Number of cases	Pathological expression		value
		PTMC positive	PTMC negative
Location
Marginal region or near isthmus	131	69	62	0.194
Central region	49	31	18
Gender
Female	140	82	58	0.128
Male	40	18	22
Age (years)
≥45	97	51	46	0.385
<45	83	49	34
Border echo
Unclear	96	68	28	<0.001
Clear	84	32	52
Internal echo
Hypoechoic	152	92	60	0.002
Hyperechoic	28	8	20
Morphology
Irregular	112	80	32	<0.001
Regular	68	20	48
Microcalcification
Yes	136	84	52	0.003
No	44	16	28
Aspect ratio
>1	56	36	20	0.113
<1	124	64	60
Attenuation
Yes	36	12	24	0.003
No	144	88	56
Cystic change
No	152	96	56	<0.001
Yes	28	4	24
Blood flow
Central	64	36	28
Marginal	116	64	52	0.889
Elasticity modulus value
>63 kPa	89	60	29	0.002
<63 kPa	91	40	51

: statistically different; : not statistically different.