The MACIS score predicts the clinical course of papillary thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents.

MACIS (distant Metastasis, patient Age, Completeness of resection, local Invasion, and tumor Size) scores are employed to predict mortality for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in adults. However, this system has not been validated in children and adolescents. We hypothesized that MACIS scores would correlate with recurrent and persistent disease in children. Patients with PTC (n = 48) were divided into those with aggressive (invasive, metastasic, recurrent or persistent disease) or indolent (lacking these features) disease. Those with aggressive PTC (n = 11) had average MACIS score = 5.2 +/- 1.3, compared to 3.7 +/- 0.4 in patients with indolent disease (n = 37, p < 0.0005). A cutoff score of 4.0 provides a PPV of 29% and NPV of 94% in predicting recurrence, and a PPV of 43% and NPV of 91% in predicting persistent disease. MACIS scores may be useful in predicting outcome in the pediatric population.