BACKGROUND: The clinical management of patients with solitary thyroid nodule is well established; however, the evaluation of patients with multiple thyroid nodules is controversial. The aim of this study was to assess if there is a correlation between the risk of malignancy and number of thyroid nodules. DESIGN: The study cohort included 2,884 patients (2,410 females and 474 males) with 3,274 thyroid nodules that underwent FNA under ultrasound guidance between November 1997 and April 2004. Multiple thyroid nodules were aspirated in 360 patients; 2 in 332 (291 females, 41 males), 3 nodules in 26 (23 females, 3 males), and 4 nodules in 2 patients (1 female, 1 male). Subsequent information regarding the histological diagnosis was obtained in the cases that underwent surgical excision. RESULTS: The average age for patients with single or multiple nodules was the same (51 yr). The FNA specimens were diagnosed as benign (n = 1,663, 51%), neoplasm (n = 880, 27%), suspicious for neoplasm or papillary carcinoma (n = 234, 7%), malignant (n = 187, 6%), and non-diagnostic (n = 310, 9%). Surgical excision was performed in 1,135 patients: 993 patients with single nodules and 142 patients with multiple nodules. The surgical pathology diagnosis was benign in 656 nodules (52%) and malignant in 596 nodules (48%). In the malignant category 153 tumors were papillary microcarcinoma (<1 cm). Excluding these cases, the malignancy rate was 39% in patients with single nodules, 41% with two nodules, and 21% with three nodules. CONCLUSIONS: The cancer risk is similar for patients with one or two nodules over 1 cm and decreases with three or more thyroid nodules.
BACKGROUND: The clinical management of patients with solitary thyroid nodule is well established; however, the evaluation of patients with multiple thyroid nodules is controversial. The aim of this study was to assess if there is a correlation between the risk of malignancy and number of thyroid nodules. DESIGN: The study cohort included 2,884 patients (2,410 females and 474 males) with 3,274 thyroid nodules that underwent FNA under ultrasound guidance between November 1997 and April 2004. Multiple thyroid nodules were aspirated in 360 patients; 2 in 332 (291 females, 41 males), 3 nodules in 26 (23 females, 3 males), and 4 nodules in 2 patients (1 female, 1 male). Subsequent information regarding the histological diagnosis was obtained in the cases that underwent surgical excision. RESULTS: The average age for patients with single or multiple nodules was the same (51 yr). The FNA specimens were diagnosed as benign (n = 1,663, 51%), neoplasm (n = 880, 27%), suspicious for neoplasm or papillary carcinoma (n = 234, 7%), malignant (n = 187, 6%), and non-diagnostic (n = 310, 9%). Surgical excision was performed in 1,135 patients: 993 patients with single nodules and 142 patients with multiple nodules. The surgical pathology diagnosis was benign in 656 nodules (52%) and malignant in 596 nodules (48%). In the malignant category 153 tumors were papillary microcarcinoma (<1 cm). Excluding these cases, the malignancy rate was 39% in patients with single nodules, 41% with two nodules, and 21% with three nodules. CONCLUSIONS: The cancer risk is similar for patients with one or two nodules over 1 cm and decreases with three or more thyroid nodules.
Authors: Elizabeth K Cahoon; Eldar A Nadyrov; Olga N Polyanskaya; Vasilina V Yauseyenka; Ilya V Veyalkin; Tamara I Yeudachkova; Tamara I Maskvicheva; Victor F Minenko; Wayne Liu; Vladimir Drozdovitch; Kiyohiko Mabuchi; Mark P Little; Lydia B Zablotska; Robert J McConnell; Maureen Hatch; Kamau O Peters; Alexander V Rozhko; Alina V Brenner Journal: J Clin Endocrinol Metab Date: 2017-07-01 Impact factor: 5.958
Authors: Iyad Hassan; Thomas Osei-Agymang; E Domínguez Fernández; Thomas Behr; Peter Barth; Annette Ramaswamy; Hans Helge Mueller; Andreas Zielke; Matthias Rothmund Journal: Endocr Pathol Date: 2008 Impact factor: 3.943
Authors: Nikola Slijepcevic; Vladan Zivaljevic; Jelena Marinkovic; Sandra Sipetic; Aleksandar Diklic; Ivan Paunovic Journal: BMC Cancer Date: 2015-04-30 Impact factor: 4.430
Authors: Edgar Mandeng Ma Linwa; Esthelle Minka Ngom; Georges Enownchong Enow Orock; Charlotte Eposse Ekoube; Esther Eleonore Ngo Linwa; Ngenge Michael Budzi; Martin Geh Meh; Richard Njock Louis Journal: Pan Afr Med J Date: 2021-04-28