ABSTRACT
This study was initiated to determine the clinicopathological aspects and frequency of various benign and malignant thyroid tumours in children and adolescents presenting with nodular and diffuse thyroid enlargement. Although numerous studies on thyroid tumours in adults are on record, data regarding thyroid tumors in children and adolescents in Pakistan is very scanty. Study design Descriptive cross sectional study. It was a 7-year retrospective study commencing from 1st July 1999 to 30th June 2006, conducted at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University. Lahore, Pakistan. All thyroid specimens of children and adolescents aged 20 years and younger, submitted and reported at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan, during a 7-year period, were included in this study. Of the total 492 thyroid surgical specimens, 396 [80.48%] constituted of non-neoplastic lesions and 96 specimens [19.52%] were reported as tumours / neoplasms. Nearly all tumours were seen in the 2nd decade and girls outnumbered boys in a ratio of 5.4:1. Benign tumours constituted 86 [86.58%] cases and malignant constituted 10[10.42%] cases. The commonest benign tumour was Follicular Adenoma constituting 85 cases [98.54%] and Papillary Carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumour constituting 9 out of the 10 [90%] malignant cases. On clinical examination and scintiscans most of these tumours presented with cold solitary thyroid nodules. 3 cases of Papillary Carcinoma were associated with cervical lymph node metastases. There was a single case of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in a 12 year old boy with MEN 2 A syndrome. There was no case of Follicular Carcinoma in our study. Conclusions: Benign thyroid tumours far outnumber the malignant tumours in children and adolescents. The commonest tumour in this age group is Follicular Adenoma, followed by Papillary Carcinoma