Objectives: Bethesda category III (atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance) includes sparsely cellular specimens with nuclear atypia (3N) and/or architectural atypia (3A). This study investigates whether the two types of atypia have different rates of malignancy (ROMs).
Methods: Cytologic and histologic diagnoses of resected thyroid nodules were recorded. ROM was calculated for all Bethesda categories and for 3N and 3A subcategories. Possible noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features were reviewed and removed from malignancies, and ROM was recalculated.
Results: A total of 1,396 nodules were included. ROM of 3N (33.3%-26.0%) was higher than 3A (7.7%-5.0%) (P < .0001) and was similar to suspicious for follicular neoplasm (25.0%-20.3%) (P = .3). ROM of 3A approached benign (2.4%-1.5%) (P = .02).
Conclusions: Strong consideration should be given to separating 3N (nuclear atypia with higher risk for papillary thyroid carcinoma) from 3A (architectural atypia with higher chance of being benign) to convey different ROMs.