Occult thyroid carcinoma. A study of 160 autopsy cases. The first report for the region of Epirus-Greece.

Thyroid glands from 160 patients, aged 11 to 95 years, without known thyroid disease, collected from medicolegal autopsies, were sectioned at 3-5 mm slices and microscopically examined for occult disease. The glands were normal in 57.9%, while nodules were observed in 16.8% and adenomas in 10.6% of the cases. Carcinomas were found in 12 cases (7.7%) and occult papillary carcinomas in 5.6%. No carcinomas were found in the thyroids of patients less than 40 years of age. There were no significant differences in frequency of occult carcinomas between female and male patients. The diameter of these tumors was less than or equal to 5 mm, with one exception, which had a diameter more than 6 mm. The aim of this article is to provide data about the frequency of occult thyroid tumors in the population of Epirus, which is a district in the north west part of Greece.