Abstract :
Introduction: Thyroid swelling is commonly encountered by an Otorhinolaryngologist in OPD. With varying combination of manifestation clinically and varying manifestations requiring a thorough understanding of the gland and its pathophysiology and investigations. So a broad overview and clinical understanding regarding incidence of benign and malignant thyroid swellings and correlation of pre-operative Ultrasonography (USG) neck, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) and post-operative histopathological examination (HPE) is imperative in a clinical setting.Aim: To study clinical manifestations of Thyroid swellings. To study incidence of benign and malignant tumours in thyroid swellings. To co-relate findings of USG, FNAC & HPEMaterials and Methods: Patients attending ENT OPD with thyroid swelling of either sex in age group 18-75 were considered for study. History and complete physical examination of patients were done and patients in euthyroid state with Ultrasound and FNAC proven thyroid lesion willing to undergo thyroidectomy and participate in the study were included.Patients were evaluated for the clinical manifestations of the thyroid swelling, incidence of benign and malignant swelling was calculated. Pre-operative USG and FNAC were correlated with Post-operative HPE to study accuracy of USG & FNAC compared to HPEResult: Difficulty Swallowing was the most common among clinical features with 6 cases followed by difficulty breathing in supine position in 5 cases. 11 out of 70 cases turned out to be malignant, with papillary thyroid carcinoma being most common malignancy in 8 cases followed by Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma amongst 3 cases. Keeping HPE as the gold standard, USG showing 45% sensitivity and 86% specificity to HPE and FNAC showing 64% sensitivity and 93% specificity to HPE.Conclusion: Clinically difficulty in swallowing was the most common complaint in patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma is the most common malignancy. USG and FNAC proves to be easy and highly specific investigation for diagnosis with HPE being the gold standard of thyroid swelling evaluation though having relatively low sensitivities.
Keyword :
Thyroid Swelling, Ultrasonography Neck, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Thyroid, Histopathological Examination