THYROID-NODULES IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE - 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

In the thirty year period between 1966 and 1996, fifty-two patients un derwent surgery for thyroid nodules at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, We aimed to review their presentation, investigation, histo logy, treatment and to follow up those who had malignant neoplasms, Fo rty-one of the fifty-two patients presented with a single thyroid nodu le, Investigations performed included thyroid function tests (N = 32), thyroid autoantibodies (N = 21), an ultrasound of the thyroid (N = 26 ) and (99m)Technetium scanning (N = 32), Thirty-five of the neoplasms were benign, the follicular adenoma (N = 16) being the most common, Se venteen patients had malignant neoplasms, seven of whom had papillary and seven of whom had follicular carcinoma, Three patients had medulla ry carcinoma of the thyroid, Nine of the seventeen patients with thyro id malignancy received post-operative I-131 treatment, At the time of this review, all patients were living.