Thyroid cancers amongst goiter population in a Nigerian tertiary hospital: surgical and radiographic perspective

Abstract

Background: Goiters are commonly benign, but cases of malignancy can develop. Thyroid cancer is known to be commoner in whites than in blacks and in females than in males. Bone metastasis is a common occurrence and may be the initial manifestation in a small subset. We hope to determine the incidence and the cervical radiographic patterns of thyroid cancer amongst goiter population in Nigeria. Method: Surgical, histological and radiographic findings in patients with goiter who had thyroidectomy in our hospital from 1999 to 2006 were reviewed. Those with proven cancer were analyzed for sex, age and radiographic changes using SPSS 11.0 for windows. Results Thirteen (8.2%) cases out of the 160 goiters were malignant and distant metastases were present in 1.3% at presentation. The histological sub-types of malignant goiters were follicular (5.0%), papillary (1.9%) and poorly differentiated or anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (1.3%). As much as 30% of thyroid cancers demonstrated calcification on plain neck radiograph, which were commonly scattered or diffused. Conclusions: Carcinomatous goiters occurred in 9.3% of the goiter population studied with predominance of follicular variant. Surgery remains the main stay but was inappropriate in about 1.2 % of population with goitre. Aside evidence of bony destruction, TC should be suspected in goiters with mixed (diffused or scattered) calcifications.

Trends in Thyroid Malignancies in Accra Ghana: A Retrospective Histopathological Review in the Department of Pathology (1994-2013), Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

“…It is difficult to attribute the predominant of PTC in this study to any known cause, but the fact that this study was conducted in the southern part of the country located along the coast where there is high intake of iodine rich sea foods may be suggestive. However, the current finding supports previous histological and clinical studies in Ghana [25,26] Nigeria [27] and other parts of Africa [28] that found PTC to be the predominant type of TM, but differs from some studies in other parts of West Africa [29][30][31][32] South Africa [33,34] and North Africa [35] that reported the commonest TM as FTC in iodine deficient regions of the world.…”

Thyroid masses in Sierra Leone: a one-year retrospective clinico- pathological study

“…The high success rate of surgery may be explained by a number of factors, including years of accumulated experience handling thyroid masses. Sex distribution of goiters and the female to male ratio of 12.5: 1 recorded in our study was higher than 4.7: 1 reported from Ethiopia [11],7.3: 1 from a center in India [2],4.4:1 in Nigeria [12], 6:1 reported from South Africa [13] and 7.2:1 seen in Ghana [9]. A higher prevalence of thyroid disorders in females may be attributable to a number of causes, including biological factors and health-seeking behavior among patients.…”

Early post-operative complications of thyroid surgery- A study of 50 cases in a tertiary level hospital of Bangladesh

“…In this review malignancy was encountered in 24%, comparable to Hussain's study, reporting 18.3% malignancy 18 . While in contrast Godara observed 8% malignancy and Rahman (Nigeria) 9.3% 22 . In our study papillary carcinoma was diagnosed in 66.67%, follicular carcinoma in 33.33% while Godara 19 encountered papillary carcinoma in 75% and follicular carcinoma in 25%.…”