Preoperative risk score for malignancy in Bethesda III thyroid nodules: a multicentre retrospective study.

Three preoperative variables remained independently associated with malignancy: moderate-to-high ultrasound risk, nuclear atypia on fine-needle aspiration, and lymphocytic thyroiditis on fine-needle aspiration.

These predictors were incorporated into a practical score ranging from 0 to 15 points.

A cut-off of 10 points or higher provided the best overall diagnostic performance, and the predicted probability of malignancy ranged from 2.4% to 74.8% across the score spectrum.