FREQUENCY OF THYROID MALIGNANCY & ITS TYPE IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING THYROIDECTOMY FOR MULTINODULAR GOITRE

Abstract

Objective:
To determine the frequency of thyroid malignancy & its type in patients undergoing thyroidectomy as a solution for Multinodular Goitre.
Methodology:
This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of General Surgery at the JPMC, Karachi, between June 2024 and December 2025. A total of 238 eligible patients between the ages of 20 and 60 years, who were to undergo a thyroidectomy due to multinodular goitre, were enlisted using a non-probability consecutive mechanism of sampling. Histopathological analysis of the surgical specimens was done, and the malignancies were classified as per the latest WHO criteria of the classification of malignancies. Data was analysed using SPSS version 26 and Chi-square tests were used with 5% level of significance.
Results:
Among 238 patients (mean age 43.47 ± 11.87 years; 76.1% females), thyroid malignancy was identified in 13.4%. Papillary carcinoma was the predominant subtype (71.9%), followed by follicular (15.6%) and Hurtle cell carcinoma (9.4%). Malignancy showed significant associations with older age (p=0.0001) and larger goitre size (p = 0.006), while gender differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
Thyroid malignancy was identified in a considerable proportion in individuals diagnosed with multinodular goitre, with papillary carcinoma documented as the predominant histopathological variant. Increasing age and greater goitre dimensions were found to have a significant association with malignancy, whereas sex exhibited no statistically significant association.These findings underscore the necessity for an exhaustive preoperative assessment and systematic histopathological evaluation in all instances of multinodular goitre.
Keywords:
Histopathological Classification, Multinodular Goitre, Thyroid Malignancy, Thyroidectomy