Ten-year Comparison of the Prevalence of Thyroid Cancer in the Neck With Retrosternal Thyroid in Shahid Beheshti and Ayatollah Rouhani Hospitals in Babol, Iran

Abstract

Background: Any deviation in the normal descent of the thyroid gland can lead to ectopic thyroid. In this study ten-year comparison of the prevalence of cervical thyroid cancer with retrosternal thyroid was performed. Objectives: By knowing prevalence of the disease actions may be performed to know the risk factors associated with the disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of cervical thyroid cancer with retrosternal thyroid in Shahid Beheshti and Ayatollah Rouhani Hospitals in Babol, Iran, during 2000 -2010. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 158 patients referred to Shahid Beheshti and Ayatollah Rouhani Hospitals in Babol City, Iran, during 10 years (from 2000 -2010). Demographic characteristics, smoking, family history of thyroid cancer, the signs and symptoms and pathology reports were collected in a checklist format. Results: From a total of 158 patients with thyroid cancer, 144 cases were diagnosed with cervical thyroid and 14 cases diagnosed with retrosternal thyroid. In both groups, dyspnea and hoarseness were the most prevalent symptoms. The pathology report showed that in the cervical thyroid, benign cases were more than malignant cases but in retrosternal thyroid, the opposite happened. Conclusions: The prevalence of cervical thyroid was 91.1% and the prevalence of retrosternal thyroid was about 8.9%. The prevalence rates of malignancy in the cervical and retrosternal thyroid were 34.7% and 21.4%, respectively.