Response to “Comment on: Association of SUVmax with Malignancy in Focal FDG-Avid Thyroid Incidentalomas”

Abstract

We read with interest the study by Öztürk et al. evaluating the performance of ultrasound risk stratification systems in focal FDG-avid thyroid incidentalomas. While TIRADS-based systems have shown high diagnostic performance, the SUVmax cut-off value and negative predictive value reported in their study closely align with our findings. This suggests that SUVmax offers consistent and complementary metabolic risk information across different centers. We believe that SUVmax and ultrasound-based risk stratification systems should not be seen as competing tools but rather as mutually supportive elements of a comprehensive clinical decision-making strategy.