Histopathological Pattern of Diagnoses in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Operations

Objective: To determine the pattern of histopathological diagnoses in patients undergoing thyroid operations. Material and Method: This descriptive study was carried out at Isra University Hospital, Hyderabad over a period of 3 years from May 2005 to April 2008. Patients having goiters and undergoing different types of thyroid surgeries for different indications were included in this study. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was performed in patients with thyroid nodule or dominant nodule and was compared with postoperative histopathology. Those patients who underwent only FNAC but were not operated were excluded from the study. Results: Out of 140 thyroid surgical specimens, 125 (89%) were diagnosed to be having nonneoplastic lesions and were more common in females. Adenomatous goiter was the most common variety of benign lesions accounting for 60% of all thyroid nodules. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest thyroid malignancy and was observed in 60% of all thyroid malignancies seen. Conclusion: Benign thyroid lesions were more common than malignant ones. Adenomatous goiter was the commonest benign lesion of the thyroid gland while papillary carcinoma was the most common malignant tumor of thyroid gland. (Rawal Med J 2009;34:14-16).