ABSTRACT
Since Iran is an endemic region for iodine deficiency, we conducted this study to determine the prevalence of incidental thyroid nodules in our university-affiliated hospitals. Four hundred and ten consecutive patients who attended our center for color Doppler ultrasound of carotid or other sites of the neck-other than the thyroid gland-from September 2005 to May 2006 were included in this study. All patients underwent dedicated thyroid ultrasound for detection of thyroid nodules. We found one or more nodules in 210 [51.2%] of our patients. The mean [ +/- SD] age of patients with incidental thyroid nodules was 62.9 +/- B.1 [range: 14-100] years. The nodules were unilateral in 56.5% and bilateral in 43.5% of the patients. Incidental thyroid nodules were detected in 46.9% of men and 58.8% of women [P=0.017]. Among our patients, 61% had only one nodule. The mean [ +/- SD] largest diameter of nodules among those with only one nodule was 10.6 7.9 mm while it was 14.2 11 mm among those with more than one nodule [P=0.03]. The prevalence of thyroid incidentalomas in the population we studied was higher than many other studies. This may be due to iodine deficiency in our country