The incidence of thyroid carcinoma in multinodular goiter: retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Patients with multinodular goiter are traditionally considered patients with lower risk of malignancy respect to patients with solitary nodule of the thyroid. Aim of the study: This study is a retrospective analysis of the patients submitted to total tiroidectomiy for multinodular goiter with the purpose to appraise the incidence of the thyroid carcinoma and to recognize a possible difference in comparison to the patients operated for uninodular goiter. The study has regarded 66patients submitted to total tiroidectomy in the O. U. of General Surgery "G. Marinaccio" of the University of the Studies of Bari. Results: The histological diagnosis of carcinoma of the thyroid is had in 29 cases (43,9 % of the operated patients); 18 carcinomas were present in the 38patient affected by multinodular goiter (47,3%) and 11 carcinomas have been shown in the 19 patient affected by uninodular goiter (57,8%). Conclusions: The elevated incidence of thyroid carcinoma (47,80% of this experience) in the patients submitted to total tiroidectomy for multinodular goiter on the base of the only clinical evaluation and in absence of a preoperatorive cytological study defends the correctness of the surgical indication and the idea however that an accurate preoperatorive diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma is not always possible.