Background: Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of malignant goiters among adolescents and adults.
Aim: The aim of this work is to review patients with goiter, as regards, their nature, demographic characterization, clinical presentation and preoperative histopathological data obtained by Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC). It also aimed to review; the operative data and post-operative histopathological pattern of all patients from a tertiary care hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the current retrospective study was designed to evaluate the nature, line of management and outcomes of malignant goiter in the same geographical region.
Patient and Methods: The study took place in a period of 4 years from December 2015 to January 2019. Patients demographic data, clinical presentation, Intra-operative findings. Pre and postoperative histopathological staging and grading were all recorded. postoperative follow up whether early or late were also included.
Results: A total of 65 patients underwent surgery. The female to male ratio was found to be 5:1 (48 females and 17 males). Patients’ age ranged from 8 to 70 year with the mean of 34.4 ±11.7 (mean ± SD). Solitary nodule was the main presentation in 80% of cases while 20% were multinodular swellings. Symptoms of increased thyroid hormone functions were recorded in 13 patients (20%). Papillary carcinoma was recorded in 52 patients (80%) while 10 patients were having follicular carcinoma. The remaining three patients (4.6%) suffered of lymphoma, no medullary or anaplastic tumors were recorded.
Conclusion: Thyroid cancer is quiet high among Saudi patients within the Eastern Province, the reason needs to be thoroughly investigated. Papillary type of carcinoma is the most commonly encountered pathological type of malignancy followed by follicular carcinoma and lymphoma. Further prospective and meta analytic studies may be needed for a more accurate and thorough assessment of the reasons that led to the increasing number of thyroid malignancies and their correlation to environmental factors.