Ultrasound-based radiomics analysis for preoperative prediction of central and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a multi-institutional study

Table 2 Associations between the lateral CLN status and clinical parameters in the training and validation cohorts

Characteristic	Training cohort (n = 300)			Validation cohort 1 (n = 143)
Characteristic	LLNM + (n = 27)	LLNM—(n = 273)	p	LLNM + (n = 15)	LLNM—(n = 128)	p
Age (years)			0.515			0.543
Mean ± SD	40.1 ± 10.9	42.6 ± 12.0		41.5 ± 16.9	43.5 ± 11.0
Age (years)			0.221			0.440
> 45	8 (29.6)	114 (41.8)		5 (33.3)	56 (43.8)
≤ 45	19 (70.4)	159 (58.2)		10 (66.7)	72 (56.2)
Gender (%)			0.159			0.542
Male	11 (40.7)	76 (27.8)		3 (20.0)	35 (27.3)
Female	16 (59.3)	197 (72.2)		12 (80.0)	93 (72.7)
TSH (%)			0.762			0.950
Normal	25 (92.6)	248 (90.8)		14 (93.3)	120 (93.8)
Abnormal	2 (7.4)	25 (9.2)		1 (6.7)	8 (6.3)
TG (%)			0.001			0.054
Normal	20 (74.1)	255 (93.4)		12 (80.0)	122 (95.3)
Abnormal	7 (25.9)	18 (6.6)		3 (20.0)	6 (4.7)
TGAB (%)			0.338			0.984
Normal	15 (55.6)	177 (64.8)		10 (66.7)	85 (66.4)
Abnormal	12 (44.4)	96 (35.2)		5 (33.3)	43 (33.6)
TPOAB (%)			0.254			0.847
Normal	17 (63.0)	200 (73.3)		12 (80.0)	105 (82.0)
Abnormal	10 (37.0)	73 (26.7)		3 (20.0)	23 (18.0)
Tumor size (mm)			< 0.001			< 0.001
Mean ± SD	15.1 ± 6.9	9.0 ± 6.8		16.1 ± 11.7	8.8 ± 6.7
Tumor size (mm)			< 0.001			< 0.001
≥ 1	23 (85.2)	94 (34.4)		11 (73.3)	33 (25.8)
< 1	4 (14.8)	179 (65.6)		4 (26.7)	95 (74.2)
US-reported lateral CLN status (%)			< 0.001			< 0.001
Negative	7 (25.9)	243 (89.0)		4 (26.7)	116 (90.6)
Positive	20 (74.1)	30 (11.0)		11 (73.3)	12 (9.4)
Radiomics score Mean	− 0.0318	− 0.1346	< 0.001	− 0.0590	− 0.1414	< 0.001
(Interquartile range)	(− 0.1413, − 0.0081)	(− 0.1706, − 0.1114)		(− 0.1357, − 0.0323)	(− 0.1973–0.0986)

Characteristic	Validation cohort 2 (n = 144)			Validation cohort 3 (n = 133)
Characteristic	LLNM + (n = 15)	LLNM—(n = 129)	p	LLNM + (n = 19)	LLNM—(n = 114)	p
Age (years)			0.992			0.007
Mean ± SD	39.7 ± 14.1	39.7 ± 11.4		38.8 ± 10.7	44.3 ± 12.3
Age (years)			0.553			0.521
> 45	7 (46.7)	50 (38.8)		7 (36.8)	51 (44.7)
≤ 45	8 (53.3)	79 (61.2)		12 (63.2)	63 (55.3)
Gender (%)			0.270			0.816
Male	2 (13.3)	34 (26.4)		6 (28.9)	33 (31.6)
Female	13 (86.7)	95 (73.6)		13 (71.1)	81 (68.4)
TSH (%)			0.459			0.154
Normal	13 (86.7)	119 (92.2)		16 (84.2)	107 (93.9)
Abnormal	2 (13.3)	10 (7.8)		3 (15.8)	7 (6.1)
TG (%)			0.730			0.487
Normal	11 (73.3)	89 (69.0)		12 (63.2)	81 (71.1)
Abnormal	4 (26.7)	40 (31.0)		7 (36.8)	33 (28.9)
TGAB (%)			0.161			0.224
Normal	7 (46.7)	84 (65.1)		17 (89.5)	88 (77.2)
Abnormal	8 (53.3)	45 (34.9)		2 (10.5)	26 (22.8)
TPOAB (%)			0.084			0.679
Normal	8 (53.3)	96 (74.4)		17 (89.5)	98 (86.0)
Abnormal	7 (46.7)	33 (25.6)		2 (10.5)	16 (14.0)
Tumor size (mm)			< 0.001			< 0.001
Mean ± SD	14.9 ± 7.1	8.3 ± 7.0		15.7 ± 7.2	8.5 ± 6.9
Tumor size (mm)			0.002			0.001
≥ 1	12 (80.0)	49 (38.0)		14 (73.7)	39 (34.2)
< 1	3 (20.0)	80 (62.0)		5 (26.3)	75 (65.8)
US-reported lateral CLN status (%)			< 0.001			< 0.001
Negative	4 (26.7)	112 (86.8)		5 (26.3)	99 (86.8)
Positive	11 (73.3)	17 (13.2)		14 (73.7)	15 (13.2)
Radiomics score			< 0.001			< 0.001
Mean	− 0.0629	− 0.1501		− 0.0496	− 0.1345
(Interquartile range)	(− 0.1347, − 0.0033)	(− 0.2014, − 0.1020)		(− 0.1300, − 0.0029)	(− 0.1798, − 0.1008)

CLN, cervical lymph node; CLNM, cervical lymph metastasis; TG, thyroglobulin; TGAB, thyroglobulin antibody; TPOAB, thyroid peroxidase antibody; TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone; LNM, lymph node metastasis; SD, standard deviation; US, ultrasound. Significant differences are highlighted in boldface

ISSN: 1471-2342