ABSTRACT
In clinical practice, thyroid nodules are very common, with wide disparity in incidence and histopathological pattern related to age, sex, dietary and environmental factors and are usually associated with a wide spectrum of diseases extending from functionally and immunologically mediated enlargement to neoplastic lesions. Thyroid cancer is the commonest endocrine cancer accounting for 92% of all the endocrine malignancies even though it is a relatively rare malignancy. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency, age group, sex distribution, and various histopathological spectrum of lesions in the thyroid.METHODSThe present study is a hospital based retrospective two-year study and was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Azeezia Medical College, Meeyannor, Kollam, Kerala. Tissue samples for H&E sections were fixed in 10% formalin and subjected to routine paraffin embedded processing after which this was then stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin. Various histopathological spectrum of lesions in the thyroid were observed and classified as benign and malignant on the basis of World Health Organization histological classification of the thyroid tumours.RESULTSOut of total cases of 476 thyroid lesions, maximum number of lesions were seen in patients in the age group of 41-50 years. Most common clinical symptom was midline neck swelling. Out of 476 cases, 419 cases (88.1%) were diagnosed as non-neoplastic and remaining 57 cases (11.9%) as neoplastic. The most common non-neoplastic lesion was multi-nodular goiter (MNG) (55.4%), followed by lymphocytic thyroiditis (17.6%), Hashimoto thyroiditis (9%), and adenomatous goiter (5.6%). The common benign lesion was follicular adenoma seen in 17 (29.8%) cases. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumour seen in 33 cases, 66.6% of all malignant lesions which we encountered in our study.CONCLUSIONSIn our study, majority of thyroid diseases showed a female predominance with most of them occurring in the age group of 41-50 years and most common thyroid lesions were non-neoplastic. Proper diagnostic tools, including clinical history, ultrasonography and proper pathological examination are required for the identification of thyroid malignancy. Diagnosis by histopathological examination is important for the prompt diagnosis and treatment of neoplastic lesions.