Incidence of Malignancy in Solitary Thyroid Nodule- A Study at Government General Hospital, Guntur

Abstract

BACKGROUND Thyroid gland disorders are the most common endocrine disorders seen in clinical practice and solitary thyroid nodule is one of the common presentations of thyroid disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in the Department of General Surgery at Government General Hospital, Guntur district consisting of 116 cases of solitary thyroid nodule in all the surgical units, during the period of 2015 to 2017. The clinical study was done through questionnaires and clinical examination. All patients were investigated with routine and special investigations. Necessary treatment was planned once arrived at a definitive diagnosis of solitary thyroid nodule. Postoperative complications were also included. RESULTS 116 cases of clinically solitary nodule of the thyroid treated in Government General Hospital, Guntur during a three-year period (2015-2017) have been reviewed. In the present study females outnumbered the males with a male-to-female ratio of 1: 8.66, most of the patients are (i.e. 91 out of 116) between 21 and 40 years. Benign nodules constitute about 87.93% and malignant nodules about 12.06% of all clinically solitary nodules. Of all the 116 cases of clinically solitary nodules, 60 cases were turned out to be multinodular goitres at exploration or on histopathology. So, only 56 cases were true solitary nodules constituting 48.27% of clinically solitary nodules. CONCLUSION Thyroid scan carries great diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic significance in toxic nodular goitre. Recently developed immunohistochemical and genetic techniques for examining FNAB specimens may produce nearly 100% reliability in the near future. Technical advances in HRUS have benefited the diagnosis of thyroid nodules.