Histopathological examination of thyroid specimens - a single center study from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid gland enlargement is a surgical problem that affects about a third of the world's adults. Thyroid enlargement is best diagnosed by histopathology of surgical specimen and can also give a clue about different pattern of diseases that include simple goiter, multinodular goiter, thyroiditis, adenoma, and last but not the least, carcinoma.

Objective: To determine presentation of thyroid lesions based on their histopathology in patients presenting to Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar from August 2018 to July 2019.

Materials & Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, inclusive of all thyroid specimens, irrespective of age and gender, received in the Department of Pathology, Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar, from August 2018 to July 2019.  Data were retrieved and analyzed for descriptive statistics in MS Excel.

Results: A total of 64 samples were collected; 56(87.5%) were non-neoplastic lesions while 08(12.5%) were neoplastic. 40(71%) multi nodular goiters, 11(19.64%) simple nodular goiter, 01(1.7%) case of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, among neoplastic 04(50%) were found to be papillary carcinoma and 02(25%) each were follicular and medullary carcinoma. Female to male ratio was 5:3 or 1.67:1 in neoplastic lesions.

Conclusion: The most common cause of goiter was multinodular goiter. Among the neoplastic lesions, follicular adenoma was the commonest, while papillary carcinoma was the most common malignant lesions.

Keywords: Multinodular goiter, follicular adenoma, Papillary carcinoma, Fine needle aspiration cytology.