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Subject Area

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to study the size of thyroid nodule as a risk factor of thyroid malignancy. Background The nodular thyroid lesions are of interest to surgeons and patients since the major differential diagnosis is cancer. These thyroid lesions are present as solitary or multiple nodules. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 330 patients aged from 13 to 65 years, every patient included in the study were subjected to history taking, physical examination, preoperative investigations (thyroid function test and routine investigations and ultrasonography on thyroid gland to detect the size of lobes and size of nodules and their dimensions). According to the cases we performed they were classified as total, subtotal, or hemithyroidectomy. The specimens were sent for routine histopathology after the operation to detect the percentage of thyroid cancer related to the thyroid nodule size Results Our results showed that most of the studied patients with thyroid nodules were aged less than 45 years and most of them were women. About 81% of the patients had nodular sizes greater than or equal to 2 cm. The prevalence of cancer was 15.5% among the studied cases. The prevalence of cancer among female patients aged greater than or equal to 45 years, had bilateral nodules with normal function. The cases with a nodular size of 1.0–1.9 cm were more prevalent among cancer patients than in benign cases. After adjustment of confounding factors, the size of nodules (1.0–1.9 cm) and age were still predictors of cancer in the studied cases. Nodular size had 2.5 times prediction of cancer while age had about 0.5 times. Conclusion A larger nodule size increases malignancy risk by up to 2 cm but further growth beyond 2 cm no longer influences malignant risk.

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