Thyroid Dysfunction and Cytological Patterns among Patients Requested for Thyroid Function Test in an Endemic Goiter Area of Gondar, North West Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Thyroid dysfunction is the most common endocrine disorder in clinical practice, and about half of the population with thyroid dysfunction remains undiagnosed. There is a fairly wide spectrum of thyroid dysfunction, which can be identified by patterns of thyroid function test results. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction among the population varies in different studies. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February 8th to April 8th, 2017, among patients who requested for the thyroid function test in an endemic goiter area at the Gondar Hospital, University of Gondar. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Three milliliters of blood samples was collected in a plain test tube and centrifuged for serum separation. The thyroid function test was done by using the MINI-VIDAS automation following the manufacturer manual (Setema PLC, Italy). Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were used for data presentation, and P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Result. Of the total 384 study participants, 346 (90.1%) were females and the study participants’ mean age was 38 ± 13.9 years. The overall thyroid dysfunction prevalence was 26.3% (101): 1.6% was identified as subclinical hypothyroidism, 0.5% hypothyroidism, 9.6% subclinical hyperthyroidism, and 14.6% hyperthyroidism, and 23.4% had goiter. Furthermore, for cytological pattern analysis, 144 study participants who fulfilled indications for fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in thyroid nodules were included. Of the total, 3 (2.1%) had thyroid carcinoma, 46 (32%) had cystic degenerated follicular cells, and 82 (57%) had nodular thyroid goiter. In addition, a clinical presentation of a total of 144 study participants, showed lymphadenites in 7 participants (4.8%), hypertension in 9 (6.2%), and cardiac failure in 12 (8.3%). Conclusion. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was high. The majority of thyroid dysfunction cases were newly diagnosed and more common in females. In addition, the most common disorders were subclinical hyperthyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Follicular cell with cyst degeneration and thyroid nodular goiter were the predominant FNAC findings. For early diagnosis and appropriate intervention in goiter endemic areas, the thyroid function test should be closely monitored.

Morphology and one immunohistochemical marker are enough for diagnosis of primary thyroid angiosarcoma

“…The data available so far indicate a peak incidence in the seventh decade of life, with a female predominance, which is also confirmed by our case [10]. Iodine deficiency and goiter are closely related [15]. In Romania, Moldova is a region with iodine deficiency and with endemic thyroid goiter that predisposes to this type of thyroid malignancy [4].…”

Prevalence of Thyroid Disorder in Residents of Western Region of Nepal

“…Overt hypothyroidism refers to high level of TSH & low level of circulating T3 &T4 (Peter, 2009). Hypothyroidism, clinically, a common condition, with prevalence rate of 2% in adult women and the prevalence rate of 0.2% in adult men (Asmelash et al, 2019).…”

Primary thyroid angiosarcoma in a non-endemic region – a rare case

“…This kind of tumor can develop on a substrate of chronic thyroid affection, such as multinodular goiter [2]. Iodine deficiency is the main cause for endemic thyroid goiter [12]. This was not the case of our patient because in Romania all salts commercialized are supplemented with iodine, a fact required by the law.…”