T. V. Haridas
BACKGROUND
Solitary Thyroid Nodules (STN) occur in 4-7% of the adult population. Owing to increasing incidence of malignancy, it is
necessary to differentiate patients with benign STN from malignant ones for early intervention and better patient management.
The aim of the study is to study the clinicopathological characteristics of STN for better diagnosis, evaluation and
management; evaluate the efficacy of FNAC in preoperative diagnostics of solitary thyroid nodules.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted over a period of one year at a tertiary healthcare institution in South India. One hundred patients
with solitary nodule of thyroid were studied by taking detailed history and conducting clinical examination, thyroid hormone
assay, ultrasonogram, FNAC and histopathological examination. The chances of malignancy and age, sex and site distribution
were also analysed.
RESULTS
Solitary thyroid nodule cases showed female preponderance (81%), presented mostly as neck swelling followed by dysphagia
(11%). Most common FNAC report was of colloid nodule (61%), followed by follicular neoplasm (20%) and papillary carcinoma
(9%). Final HPR showed 53% as colloid nodule and 27% as papillary carcinoma.
CONCLUSION
Differentiating between benign and malignant lesions and their comprehensive management are the challenges presented by
STN. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is the diagnostic tool of choice for the initial evaluation of STN.
