Thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) in the diagnostic value of thyroid nodules: a systematic review

This review was to assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) classification in the differentiated diagnosis of patients with thyroid nodules. The diagnostic accuracy of TI-RADS was identified by using data from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and other databases, which was from Jan 1966 to Dec 2013. Meta-analysis methods were used to obtain pooled sensitivity, specificity, negative likelihood ratio, positive likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and summary receiver operating characteristic curves. A total of five studies with 7,753 thyroid nodules enrolled met the inclusion criteria in this meta-analysis. TI-RADS had a pooled sensitivity of 0.75 (95 % confidence interval 0.72-0.78) and a pooled specificity of 0.69 (95 % confidence interval 0.68-0.70). The pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 24.28 (95 % confidence interval 14.25-41.38). The overall area under the curve was 0.9177, and the Q* index was 0.8304. The TI-RADS classification was the accurate diagnostic technique for differentiating thyroid nodules.