THYROID-DISEASE IN THE WEST OF IRELAND - AN ATYPICAL INCIDENCE OF NEOPLASIA

This study was established to review the spectrum of thyroid disease p resenting to a regional centre in the West of Ireland, Over a ten year period 414 thyroidectomies were performed, The most common histologic al diagnosis was nodular goitre (238 patients), There were 134 thyroid neoplasms; 87 (65%) adenomas, 40 (30%) carcinomas and 7 (5%) lymphoma s, ii breakdown of the cancers revealed 17 (36%) papillary and 14 (30% ) follicular carcinomas with 7(15%) lymphomas, Six (13%) patients pres ented with anaplastic tumours, Solitary nodules had a high cancer risk (25%) in comparison with multinodular or diffuse goitres (5%), Thyroi ditis accounted for 38 cases while only 10 thyroidectomies were perfor med for Graves' disease.