A Clinical Study of the Thyroid Nodules

ABSTRACT

Enlargement of the thyroid gland is the most frequently encountered disorder of the endocrine system. A clinical evaluation is helpful in diagnosis but has its limitation. Until recently, surgical excision has been the only means by which a precise diagnosis of thyroid nodule is made, based upon the histopathologic evaluation. Authors studied 117 cases of thyroid nodule operated at Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Hallym University, from January 1985 to July 1994. The results were analyzed with X2-test and summarized as follows. 1. The thyroid nodules were most frequently seen in third and fourth decades (57.3%), and more in female (5.91). 2. The most common symptoms and duration were palpable mass (97.4%) and within 3 months (41.1%). 3. Most cases of thyroid nodules were treated with lobectomy (41.0%). 4. On the radioisotope scanning, the incidence of malignant nodule with cold nodules was 17.9% and the incidence of benign nodule with hot nodule was 91.7%. 5. The overall postoperative and specific complications were only related to the histopathologic finding (P=0.0026, P=0.0207), and not related to the type of operation and size of the thyroid nodules.