{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T08:12:05Z","timestamp":1780560725841,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780531200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: Preoperative prediction of incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) in patients undergoing surgery for multinodular goiter (MNG) is a clinically significant challenge. This study aimed to evaluate the association of preoperative radiological (TI-RADS), cytological (Bethesda), and systemic inflammatory markers (neutrophil\/lymphocyte ratio [NLR] and systemic immune-inflammation index [SII]) with incidental PTMC. Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent total thyroidectomy due to multinodular goiter. Preoperative ultrasonography findings (TI-RADS), fine needle aspiration biopsy results (Bethesda), and inflammatory markers (NLR and SII) were analyzed. Patients were grouped according to the presence of PTMC based on postoperative pathology results. Independent associations with PTMC were evaluated using multivariable binary logistic regression analysis with TI-RADS and Bethesda classifications entered as categorical variables. Results: A total of 283 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter were included in the study. The mean age was 52.75 \u00b1 11.39 years, and 78.1% of the patients were female. Postoperative histopathological examination revealed incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) in 67 patients (23.6%). PTMC was detected in 67 patients (23.6%). In multivariable binary logistic regression analysis, high-risk TI-RADS categories (TR4\u20135 vs. TR1\u20133) and Bethesda III\u2013IV categories (vs. Bethesda I\u2013II) were independently associated with PTMC, whereas NLR and SII were not independently significant. Conclusions: High-risk TI-RADS and Bethesda categories were independently associated with incidental PTMC in patients with multinodular goiter, whereas inflammatory markers including NLR and SII were not independent predictors. Radiological and cytological evaluation appear to remain the primary components of preoperative assessment in incidental PTMC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15114343","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T07:36:28Z","timestamp":1780558588000},"page":"4343","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Role of Preoperative Radiological, Cytological, and Systemic Inflammatory Markers in Predicting Incidental Papillary Microcarcinoma in Patients with Multinodular Goiter: A Retrospective Single-Center Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6639-9593","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yavuz Selim","family":"Kahraman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Kastamonu Training and Research Hospital, Kastamonu 37150, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatma","family":"G\u00fcn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu 37150, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u0130brahim","family":"Kurto\u011flu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu 37150, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6348-1927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yasin Alper","family":"Y\u0131ld\u0131z","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu 37150, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ezgi","family":"Kartal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Yeditepe University, Istanbul 34755, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7626-4649","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adem","family":"\u015eent\u00fcrk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Oncology, Sakarya Training and Research Hospital, Adapazar\u0131 54290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2768344","DOI":"10.1155\/2023\/2768344","article-title":"Incidental papillary microcarcinoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma in multinodular goiter","volume":"2023","author":"Arican","year":"2023","journal-title":"Anal. 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