Abstract
Background.
The catchment area of the patients under study was the subβHimalayan plains, which are recognized as iodineβdeficient areas.
Methods.
A retrospective analysis of 1576 surgically treated patients with thyroid disorders is presented. The indications for surgery were hyperthyroidism or cytologically diagnosed malignancy and large size, pressure symptoms, cosmesis, suspicious cytologic findings for malignancy, and clinical suspicion of malignancy in clinically benign euthyroid goiters.
Results.
Histologically, 83 of 703 solitary thyroid nodules, 36 of 329 clinically benign euthyroid multinodular goiters, and four of 181 Graves' disease were cancers. Of all follicular cell cancers in this study, 132 were papillary, 83 were follicular, and 38 were anaplastic and squamous cell cancers. The different histologic types exhibited an aggressive clinical behavior, with advanced lesions with cervical lymph node involvement and distant metastases frequently seen at presentation. Locoregional recurrence occurred frequently even after radical surgical ablation, and overall mortality caused by the disease was high.
Conclusions.
Even wellβdifferentiated cancers pursued a virulent clinical course with high mortality, despite routine radical surgical and radionuclide ablation. Β© 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 27: XXXβXXX, 2005