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

Table 4

Correlation between the ultrasonographic appearance of PTMC and the BRAF V600E mutation.

Factor	Number of cases	BRAF V600E mutation		value
		Positive	Negative
Location
Marginal region or near isthmus	68	38	30	0.972
Central region	32	18	14
Gender
Female	82	47	35	0.571
Male	18	9	9
Age (years)
≥45	55	34	21	0.195
<45	45	22	23
Border echo
Unclear	70	49	21	<0.001
Clear	30	7	23
Internal echo
Hypoechoic	89	48	41	0.236
Hyperechoic	11	8	3
Morphology
Irregular	75	35	40	0.001
Regular	25	21	4
Microcalcification
Yes	83	45	38	0.427
No	17	11	6
Aspect ratio
>1	36	30	6	0.001
<1	64	26	38
Attenuation
Yes	14	11	3	0.067
No	86	45	41
Cystic change
No	92	49	43
Yes	8	7	1	0.061
Blood flow
Central	37	18	19	0.256
Marginal	63	38	25
Elasticity modulus value
>63 kPa	58	37	21	0.065
<63 kPa	42	19	23

: statistically different; : not statistically different.