The single thyroid nodule

Scintigraphic Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer

Scintigraphy is part of the routine examination of thyroid disease, yet there are few published reports on its utility and pitfalls. Out of 2 025 consecutive thyroid examinations after excluding 230 cases of proven thyroid malignancies, 403 patients who underwent surgery were studied for histopathologic correlation. There were 232 with cold nodules, 143 with multinodular goiters (MNG) and 28 with uniformly increased uptake suggestive of toxic goiter. Malignancy was reported in 72 of the 232 cold nodules (31%). In solitary nodules, the examination was useful in selecting cases for surgery and, in cold lesions, for planning of surgery. In the majority of patients with MNG or thyrotoxicosis who were operated on, scintigraphy provided no additional information. MNG requires scintigraphy only in selected cases where there is strong suspicion of malignancy. Contrary to reports in the literature, papillary carcinoma was found to be associated with MNG in our patients.

Thyroid incidentaloma

Because of emerging investigation modalities many of the thyroid lesions are picked up and that poses a big dilemma about management of such lesions. Majority of these lesions especially in iodine-deficient regions, are not significant and may be only followed up without any active treatment but, sometimes the small lesions may be microcarcinoma. This article discusses about the reliability of clinical examination of neck for detection of such lesions, the controversy of such lesion being benign or malignant, and how to evaluate these lesions and the recommendation as per American Thyroid Association guidelines.

An evaluation of thallium imaging for detection of carcinoma in clinically palpable solitary, nonfunctioning thyroid nodules

OBJECTIVE

An evaluation of thallium imaging for differentiating benign from malignant lesions in clinically palpable solitary, nonfunctioning, thyroid nodules.

METHODS

Seventy-eight patients presenting with a clinically palpable solitary nonfunctioning thyroid nodule were imaged with 3 mCi thallium-201 with a pinhole acquisition at 20 minutes and 3 hours after injection. Thallium uptake was assessed as grade 1, less than the rest of the gland; grade 2, same as the rest of the gland; and grade 3, more than the rest of the gland. All patients underwent surgery and the histology was compared with the thallium scan results.

RESULTS

Of the 78 patients presenting with solitary thyroid nodule, 13 were malignant and 65 were benign. Twenty-four patients with benign disease showed no uptake of thallium at 3 hours (grade 1). Thirty-two patients with benign disease and 2 patients with malignant lesion had grade 2 uptake at 3 hours. Eleven patients with malignant disease and 9 with benign disease had grade 3 uptake at 3 hours.

CONCLUSIONS

All malignant lesions had at least grade 2 and most had grade 3 uptake at 3 hours. All lesions with grade 1 uptake at 3 hours were benign, enabling malignancy to be excluded in one-third of cases. Thallium imaging is a useful adjunct to fine-needle cytology in evaluation of solitary thyroid nodules especially when the latter is inconclusive.

Thyroid carcinoma in single cold nodules and in cold nodules of multinodular goiters

OBJECTIVE

To examine the frequency of malignant growth in a nonfunctioning solitary thyroid nodule (SN) and in multinodular goiter (MNG).

METHODS

We performed fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of cold nodules in 154 patients. Eight patients with unsatisfactory FNAB specimens were excluded from the study. Of the remaining 146 patients, 95 (89 women and 6 men) had MNG. The other 51 patients (46 women and 5 men) had SN. The overall age range was 25 to 86 years (mean, 52).

RESULTS

Of the 95 patients with MNG, 16 had abnormal cytologic findings and underwent surgical excision. Of these 16 patients, 12 had thyroid cancer (6 papillary, 3 follicular, and 3 Hürthle cell). Of the 51 patients with SN, 8 had suspicious cytologic findings, and 5 had surgical histologic evidence of thyroid cancer (3 papillary and 2 follicular). Four patients with papillary thyroid cancer (three from the MNG group and one from the SN group) had a history of exposure to neck irradiation. After exclusion of the patients with a history of neck irradiation, the rate of malignant involvement in cold nodules in the MNG group was 9.78%, in comparison with 8% in the group with SN (P = 0.89). Within the MNG group, 25% of the thyroid malignant lesions were of the Hürthle cell type.

CONCLUSION

Multinodularity of a goiter should no longer be considered an indicator of probable benign disease. In the assessment of all thyroid nodules, both SN and those in MNG, a thyroid scan can be helpful, and it should be followed by FNAB and cytopathologic examination of any nonfunctioning lesions. The incidence of malignant involvement in cold nodules of MNG does not differ significantly from that found in SN.

Cold nodule thyroid - A 5 year retrospective study

FNAC and histopathological reports of 50 patients with cold nodule thyroid who underwent surgery during the last 5 years were analysed. FNAC showed malignancy in 12% of cases whereas histopathological examination in 16% of cases. In this study an attempt has been made to find out the role of frozen section in cold nodule thyroid.

Metastatic pure papillary thyroid carcinoma presenting as a toxic hot nodule

In the majority of cases, carcinoma of the thyroid presents as a cold nodule by radioiodine and Tc-99m sodium pertechnetate scintigraphy. Whereas the presence of a hot nodule usually implies a benign entity, it does not provide complete assurance against thyroid malignancy. Presented is a rare case of metastatic pure papillary thyroid carcinoma appearing as a hot nodule on Tc-99m sodium pertechnetate and I-123 sodium iodide scintigraphy. The implications of such a case, its management, and review of the pertinent literature are discussed.

Hürthle cell carcinoma in an autonomous thyroid nodule in an adolescent

A 16-year-old girl presented with a palpable thyroid nodule which was found to be functioning autonomously by radioiodine (123I) scintigraphy. After needle biopsy proved non-diagnostic, surgical excision showed the nodule to be Hürthle cell carcinoma. Functional thyroid nodules are rarely malignant, thyroid carcinoma is rare in childhood, and Hürthle cell carcinoma is a rare thyroid neoplasm, so the presence of these three rare conditions in one patient makes it a very unusual case.

Limitations of thyroid scanning in solitary thyroid nodules

During an 8-year period, 104 patients (19 males, 85 females) underwent surgery for a solitary thyroid nodule. There were 19 (18.3%) malignant nodules and 85 (81.7%) benign nodules. Malignancy occurred in 3 (15.8%) males and 16 (18.8%) females. Pre-operative scanning was performed prior to referral in 59 patients (52 had ultrasound, 41 had isotope scanning; the majority had both). Of the scanned patients, 12 (20%) had a malignant nodule while 7 (15.5%) of the 45 patients who did not have scanning had a malignant nodule. In patients who had an ultrasound scan, malignancy was found in 5 (23.8%) of the 21 solid nodules and 7 (22.7%) of the 31 cystic (or solid/cystic) nodules. In patients who had thyroid isotope scanning, malignancy was found in 6 (17.5%) of the 34 cold (non-functioning) nodules and 3 (43%) of the 7 warm or hot (functioning) nodules. Ultrasound and isotope scanning may be misleading and neither help to differentiate benign from malignant thyroid nodules which require surgical excision.

Management of the thyroid nodule

The approach to the patient with a palpable solitary thyroid nodule remains controversial. In the rare patient with signs and symptoms suggestive of malignancy, the course of action is reasonably established. However, the patient with an asymptomatic solitary thyroid nodule presents a dilemma. The therapeutic alternatives range from suppressive medical therapy with serial examinations to surgical excision; therefore, to obviate unnecessary surgery, several diagnostic techniques and approaches have evolved which attempt to predict the presence of malignancy. A multitude of articles reflects the widespread disagreement among physicians regarding these diagnostic approaches. Thus, many questions still remain as to the proper management of patients with solitary nodules. The issue is further confounded by problems in assimilating and practically applying the results of the various studies, which often differ in their results. In this report, data regarding the prevalence of the solitary thyroid nodule are reviewed, and the clinical significance of the solitary thyroid nodule is discussed. The problem of management is examined in terms of the various diagnostic approaches to the solitary thyroid nodule: history and physical examination, laboratory tests, ultrasonography, thyroid suppressive therapy, scanning techniques, and fine-needle aspiration. The efficacy of each technique is critically evaluated with an emphasis upon the ability to distinguish benign from malignant disease. The overall aim of this report is to establish a reasonable diagnostic approach to the asymptomatic patient with the solitary palpable thyroid nodule, based upon a critical review of the literature.

Multimodality imaging of the thyroid gland

The continued development of high technology in the rapidly expanding field of computer-based imaging has had a significant impact on many areas of diagnostic imaging. The problem of rising medical costs emphasizes the importance of reaching a diagnosis by the most straightforward and cost-effective method while providing minimal patient discomfort. This responsibility to the patient and the medical care system rests with the physician. It is therefore essential that both imaging and referring physicians have a broad background of information regarding the potential limitations and relative merits of both old and new technologies available to patients with thyroid disorders. The appropriate utilization and relative roles of these imaging modalities have been discussed with respect to the individual clinical problem in this chapter.

Solitary thyroid nodule: diagnosis and management

Thyroid nodules are common. Most are benign lesions since clinically important thyroid carcinoma is a relatively rare disease. The most sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of thyroid cancer is fine-needle aspiration biopsy, but its diagnostic accuracy depends upon whether or not one excises all suspicious nodules, thus including them as correctly diagnosed. Nevertheless, fine-needle aspiration biopsy is the most sensitive, specific, and cost-effective test for thyroid cancer. Therapy depends upon the cause of the thyroid nodule.

The thyroid nodule. Diagnosis and surgical treatment

A definitive evaluation of different therapeutic approaches to patients with papillary and follicular thyroid carcinomas requires a prospective multicenter long-term study, with careful documentation of variations in histologic classification and all other factors that can possibly influence prognosis. Until such information is available, every patient with a thyroid nodule should be given the treatment that offers the best prospect for cure to the greatest possible number of patients; this treatment appears to be hemithyroidectomy for benign unilateral thyroid tumors and total thyroidectomy for carcinomas. These operations can be done safely by experienced surgeons without exceeding the morbidity or complication rate of less extensive treatments.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer: comparative study of 213 operated patients

Between 1982 and 1984, fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology (ABC) was performed in 1100 patients (aged 14-80, 993 women), with nodular goitre, who had either a solitary cold nodule or dominant hypofunctioning nodule(s) within a multinodular or diffusely enlarged gland. Surgery was performed in 213 patients based on clinical and cytological criteria, and the histology of the surgical specimens was correlated with the cytological findings. ABC specimens were sufficient for cytological diagnosis in 190 patients and were classified as malignant (positive), suspicious or benign. In 37 patients who had a final histological diagnosis of malignancy, cytology was positive or suspicious in 33 and benign in 4. In the remaining 153 patients with benign histology there were 7 positive or suspicious aspirates, and 146 benign. The 37 malignancies included papillary carcinomas in 26 patients (24 positive or suspicious and 2 benign on cytology), Hürthle-cell tumours in 6 (6 positive), follicular carcinoma in 1 (negative), anaplastic carcinoma in 1 (suspicious), medullary carcinoma in 2 (1 positive, 1 negative), and lymphoma in 1 (positive). Our results indicate that the overall sensitivity rate of the ABC method for cancer was 89.2 per cent, the diagnostic specificity 95.4 per cent, the false-positive rate 17.5 per cent and the false negative rate 2.6 per cent. The overall accuracy of the method was 94.2 per cent. It is concluded that papillary and Hürthle-cell carcinomas can be diagnosed accurately with ABC but we recommend that the method be used in conjunction with clinical information and other conventional diagnostic procedures.

Fine needle biopsy and scintigram in the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid lesions

Fine needle biopsies (FNB) of the thyroid were examined from 860 patients. In 703 cases follicular cells without atypia were found and in this group of patients the clinical diagnosis was nodular goitre. Operations were performed in 138 patients and in 97 cases the cytological finding could be correlated to the histopathological diagnosis. In 33 of these patients thyroid carcinoma was histologically verified. In 26 of the carcinoma cases cytologic examination showed grave atypia or changes indicating carcinoma. The cases in which the cytological diagnoses were falsely negative are discussed. Moderate cellular atypia occurred in one case with papillary carcinoma. In two cases the cytological examination gave a false positive diagnosis of cancer, both representing thyroiditis of the lymphoid type. The scintigrams in patients with thyroid carcinoma are also presented. Cold nodules were found in 10/19 patients and a hot nodule in .1 patient. In 3 patients the scintigrams were normal and in another 5 inconclusive. The results indicate that thyroid scintigrams can only be used as a supplement to the physical examination and a guidance for FNB. The contribution of FNB in the decision to operate is discussed and it is concluded that FNB is a valuable adjunct in preoperative diagnosis of thyroid lesions. The best diagnostic results are obtained when there is a close cooperation between clinician, radiologist, cytologist and pathologist.

Fine needle aspiration cytology

Fine needle aspiration cytology is an inexpensive, atraumatic technique for the diagnosis of disease sites. This paper describes the technique and illustrates how it may be applied to the management of tumours throughout the body. The limitations of the method, the dangers of false positive reports, and the inevitability of false negative diagnoses are emphasised. In a clinical context the method has much to offer by saving patients from inappropriate operations and investigations and allowing surgeons to plan quickly and more rationally. It is an economically valuable technique and deserves greater recognition.

The solitary thyroid nodule: diagnosis and management of malignant disease

While few solitary thyroid nodules are carcinomatous, it is essential to identify and preferentially select those that are for surgery. Clinical, biochemical, serologic, radiographic, scintigraphic, sonographic, biopsy, and even therapeutic evaluation may be necessary to choose those patients with the greatest probability of malignancy. The benefits and limitations of each diagnostic modality are discussed, and the importance of fine-needle aspiration is stressed. After the operative confirmation of malignancy, the prognosis in any given case depends on 1) the histologic type of the neoplasm, 2) its size and extent, 3) the presence of angioinvasiveness, 4) the tendency toward multicentricity of the lesion, 5) the age and sex of the patient, and 6) whether distant metastases are present. These factors influence the extent of surgery required for well-differentiated carcinomas. Meticulous dissection and preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerves and the parathyroid glands along with their blood supply are important if total thyroidectomy for papillary carcinoma is to be employed with an acceptable operative morbidity to optimize survival. The value of the adjunctive use of thyroid hormone and radioactive iodine is also discussed. Finally, the clinical behaviors and treatments of undifferentiated carcinomas, sarcomas, lymphomas, and neoplasms metastatic to the thyroid gland are reviewed.

The role of fine-needle aspiration cytology in the management of thyroid disease

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the thyroid gland is a low-cost office procedure which even in children does not require regional anaesthesia. The method is safe, without appreciable complications or side effects. Since the needling is readily accepted by patients, it can be repeated when necessary. A morphological diagnosis is then rapidly obtainable, and time-consuming and expensive investigations are bypassed. In the hands of experienced cytopathologists, fine-needle biopsy is a reliable means of selecting patients for surgery, thereby reducing the frequency of operations for benign lesions. The cytological report enables the clinician to recognize the conditions which will benefit from non-surgical management, for example colloid goitre, thyroiditis and lymphoma, and also to plan surgical strategy in papillary, medullary and anaplastic giant cell neoplasms. In follicular neoplasms, aspiration biopsy cytology does not permit reliable distinction between adenoma and carcinoma. With combined consideration of aspiration biopsy cytology and scintiscans, however, it is possible to distinguish non-neoplastic from neoplastic follicular proliferation. In cases where cytological study does not give a specific or conclusive diagnosis, broad disease categories such as inflammatory or neoplastic states can be recognized. Even for these patients, therefore, the method can serve as a guide in the further management. In post-therapy follow-up of thyroid neoplasms, aspiration biopsy cytology permits rapid detection of recurrence.

Management of thyroid nodules. II: Scanning techniques, thyroid suppressive therapy, and fine needle aspiration

For the differentiation of benign from malignant thyroidal disease, ultrasound displays anatomic but not histologic features. Other visualization techniques can be used including isotope scanning (radioiodine, 99m technetium, 241 americium fluorescence, 131 cesium, 67 gallium, 75 selenomethionine, 201 thallium, 32 phosphorus, 99m Tc-bleomycin, 197 mercury, 133 xenon), thermography, x-ray techniques (plain films, computed tomographic scan, xeroradiography, chest x-ray barium swallow, lymphography, angiography), and thyroid hormone suppression. Needle biopsy can be done by core biopsy (Vim-Silverman and drill biopsy), large needle biopsy for histologic processing and fine needle aspiration for cytologic interpretation. The latter is the safest, most reliable, and most cost-effective technique currently available to differentiate between benign and malignant thyroidal disease and has great promise for the future.

Management of thyroid nodules. I: History and physical examination, blood tests, X-ray tests, and ultrasonography

The approach to the management of the thyroid nodule remains controversial. Confusion exists because virtually any thyroidal disease can present as a clinically solitary nodule which means there is no uniformity regarding natural history, incidence, prevalence, epidemiology, and pathophysiology.. The variety of definitions of thyroid nodules and thyroid carcinoma and the different modes of study selection and individual bias add to the confusion. Diagnostic approaches have not yielded a completely reliable technique to differentiate benign from malignant thyroidal disease. A history of neck irradiation of cervical lymphadenopathy significantly increases the chance of thyroid malignancy, but other parameters of the history or physical examination as well as blood tests are unreliable. Ultrasound displays anatomic but not histologic features. X-ray techniques (plain films, computed tomographic scans, xeroradiography, chest x-ray, barium swallow, lymphography, and angiography) have been used to visualize thyroid nodules, with some techniques proving more useful than others.

Prediction of malignancy in solitary thyroid nodules in a country with endemic goiter

From January 1962 through October 1975, 455 patients with single thyroid nodules were operated on at King Paul Hospital. Malignancy was proved in forty-three patients. The overall incidence of carcinoma was 9.5 per cent. A higher incidence of cancer was found in patients less than ten years of age (40 per cent), between eleven and twenty years of age (20 per cent), and more than sixty-one years of age (17.4 per cent). Malignant nodules were more frequent in males (17.5 per cent) than in females (8.3 per cent). Radioactive iodine scanning does not distinguish benign from malignant nodule. Solitary thyroid nodules require operative excision supplemented with replacement therapy.

Malignant cold thyroid nodules in hyperthyroidism

In 65 hyperthyroid patients with a cold nodule a carcinoma was found at operation in 14 cases, i.e. a malignancy incidence of 21-5 per cent. In 859 euthyroid cases with a cold thyroid nodule 104 malignant lesions (12-1 per cent) were found. The difference is statistically significant. Surgery in cases with a cold thyroid nodule is strongly indicated if this occurs in a hyperthyroid gland.

Ultrasonic examination of the thyroid gland. Possibilities and limitations

In 440 patients with various thyroid disorders scintiphotography and ultrasonography were carried out. For ultrasonic examination both the A-mode and B-mode display technics were employed, included in the study were 324 patients with hypofunctioning solitary nodules; a histopathologic diagnosis could be obtained in 151 of these. The method proved to be especially valuable for differentiating between solid and cystic nodules. This is of practical importance because completely cystic nodules are nearly always benign and may be treated by thin needle puncture with aspiration of the cyst fluid. In addition, ultrasonography is of some value in making a better functional classification of nodules, better estimating the size of the thyroid and in the follow-up of patients with various thyroid disorders who are under treatment or untreated. Differentiating between benign and malignant solid nodules was not possible with the technic used. The examination can be safely carried out in pregnancy. The limitations of the technic are discussed.

The single palpable thyroid nodule: evaluation by 99mTc-pertechnetate imaging

The role of 99mTc-pertechnetate thyroid imaging in the preoperative assessment of patients with single palpable thyroid nodules was evaluated. The frequency of cancer in hypofunctional nodules was similar to that found in previous studies with 131I. The 99mTc-pertechnetate image allowed a reliable separation of pathologically uninodular thyroids from those that were multinodular, and demonstrated multiple thyroid lesions that had not been detected by physical examination in over one-third of the cases. The frequency of cancer in thyroids containing a solitary or dominant hypofunctional nodule was higher (17%) than that in thyroids with a multinodular scan appearance (less than 5%).

The surgery of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer accounts for just under 1 per cent of malignant disease. The prognosis varies from excellent with papillary carcinoma in young people to very poor in anaplastic carcinoma in the elderly. Modified rather than radical dissection of lymph nodes is indicated with well-differentiated tumours. The level of calcitonin in the blood is a sensitive marker for medullary carcinoma occurring either as sporadic or familial disease. The outcome of management in 7 patients with medullary carcinoma indicates that the prognosis is variable and that thyroidectomy is effective treatment.

The management of solitary thyroid nodules under local anaesthesia

A group of patients with solitary nodules of the thyroid were treated at the University of Malaya by surgery under local anaesthesia. This was done in order to expedite exploration of a potentially malignant condition. This group comprised 43 patients, and four cancers were found. The standard technique used was satisfactory from the viewpoint of both the patient and the surgeon. The pattern of this condition in a Malaysian population is documented, the technique used is described, and thyroidectomy under local aneaesthesia is discussed.

The single thyroid nodule and carcinoma

A review of 568 cases of single thyroid nodule operated upon during the period 1960–72 is presented.

Females were more frequently affected than males, the ratio being 8.6:1. The right lobe was more frequently involved (57.6 per rent) than the left. The nodules in our series were classified according to the scintiscan findings as follows: cold 466 cases (82 per cent), warm 32 cases (5.6 per cent) and hot or toxic 70 cases (12.4 per cent). The incidence of carcinoma was 12 per cent and 6.2 per cent in cold and warm nodules respectively. No malignancy was found in either hot nodules or toxic adenomas. The incidence of carcinoma was higher in male patients and significantly higher in patients of over 60 years.

The solitary thyroid nodule

Seventy-three cases of solitary thyroid nodule have been analysed in detail, including their clinical presentation and operative and histological features. Females were more frequently affected than males in a ratio of 6:1. A considerable number of solitary nodules diagnosed clinically turned out to be multinodular at operation (164 per cent).The incidence of malignancy in the present series was 6·8 per cent while that of toxicity was 6 per cent.

Drill biopsy was found to be a useful diagnostic aid with a high accuracy rate. Thyroid lymphography has not been found to be of much help.

In view of the low incidence of malignancy a plea for excision of the solitary thyroid nodule is made.