Comparative Study of ACR TI-RADS and ATA 2015 for Ultrasound Risk Stratification of Thyroid Nodules

To study the adoption rate of the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR TI-RADS) scoring system over a 3-year period in a community setting and compare its performance with that of the American Thyroid Association 2015 (ATA 2015) ultrasound risk scoring system.

Case series with prospective data collection and retrospective chart review.

Large community-based practice with multiple satellite offices and a dedicated thyroid ultrasound clinic.

All patients referred to the thyroid clinic between January 2018 and December 2020 for ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy were assigned an ATA 2015 risk score in a prospective manner immediately prior to biopsy. ACR TI-RADS scores were recorded through retrospective chart review of the radiologist report. Performance of the 2 systems was compared with cytology as the gold standard.

A total of 949 nodules underwent biopsy, of which 236 had available data for both scoring systems. There was a 33.8% increase in adoption of the ACR TI-RADS over the 3-year study period. The ATA 2015 guidelines yielded sensitivity and specificity of 81.6% and 54.5%, respectively, as opposed to 73.7% and 27.0% for the ACR TI-RADS.

In our community, there has been a gradual increase in adoption of the ACR TI-RADS, although the ATA 2015 risk scoring system has performed better.