A hospital based clinical study of 100 patients of solitary thyroid nodule

Abstract

Background: Thyroid nodules present as a challenge in their diagnosis, evaluation and management. Often these lumps are large in size and develop at the edge of thyroid gland so that they are felt or seen as a lump in front of the neck. The prevalence of these nodules in a given population depends on number of factors like age, sex, diet, iodine deficiency and even therapeutic and environmental radiation exposure. Prevalence increases with age with spontaneous nodules occurring at a rate of 0-0.8% per year, beginning early in life and extending till the eighth decade. In this study, the basic aim is to depict the various clinical presentations of solitary thyroid nodule and thereby find out the best diagnostic modality so as to plan out the most effective treatment strategy for such lesions.

Methods: A hospital based prospective study was done with 100 patients to assess the various clinical presentations of solitary thyroid nodule and thereby find out the best diagnostic modality so as to plan out the most effective treatment strategy for such lesions.

Results: Thyroid nodules are common in females of age group 31-40 years. Commonest presenting complaint is swelling in the front of lower neck. Most of the patients presented between 6 months to 3 years of onset of swelling.

Conclusions: In present study, the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC was 85.71% and 100% respectively. All malignant lesions on FNAC were confirmed by histopathology indicating its excellence. Therefore, FNAC helps in planning the correct management and avoids second surgery.