Prevalence of incidental thyroid nodules diagnosed by ultrasound in an Iranian population

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