Evaluation of patients with incidental papillary thyroid carcinoma in terms of preoptical nodule characteristics and thyroid function tests

The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased worldwide in recent years. The reason for this increase is the widespread use of ultrasonographic examinations and pathological evaluations. However, despite the increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer, there has been no increase in mortality due to thyroid cancer. The most common type of thyroid carcinoma is papillary thyroid carcinoma, which is an epithelial trochlear carcinoma. According to the definition made by the World Health Organization, tumors with a largest diameter of ≤10 mm are called papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTMK). Incidental papillary carcinoma is a tumor that is diagnosed incidentally by examining the pathological specimen after thyroidectomy performed for non-cancerous reasons such as thyrotoxicosis, compressive goiter or multi-nodular goiter (MNG). There are many controversial issues regarding the clinical significance of these tumors. The survival rate of incidental PTMK is almost the same as that of the general population. Incidental thyroid carcinoma has been increasing in recent years, but despite this increase, specific features for the detection of these cases have not yet been established. In our study, 250 incidental PTMK patients diagnosed in our clinic and 250 nodular goiter patients with benign pathology reported after total thyroidectomy (control group) were retrospectively screened. It was evaluated whether there was a difference between the two groups in terms of preoperative nodule characteristics and thyroid function tests (TFT) that predicted malignancy. As a result of the study, statistically significant differences were detected between the malignant and benign groups in the parameters of T3 value, nodule dimensions, nodule diameter ratios, nodule echogenicity, EU-TIRADS score and thyroid gland dimensions. KEYWORDS: Incidental micro-papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, thyroid nodule, Thyroid function tests