• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 1999

We retrospectively reviewed the results of 1,850 fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) of thyroid nodules performed from 1990 to 1991 in the Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital. Among 1,528 cases and 322 cases aspirated by clinicians and a pathologist, 465 cases(30.4%) and 13 cases(4.0%) of the aspirates were inadequate, respectively. In 227 cases, correlation of the FNAC diagnosis and histologic diagnosis was done. Excluding the inadequate cases, the sensitivity nor the detection of neoplasm(malignancy together with follicular adenoma) was 86.4% and the specificity was 70.7%. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 79.0%. There were 16 false-positive cases(7.0%), and 19 false-negative cases(8.4%). The predictive value of each cytologic diagnosis was 92% in papillary carcinoma, and 100%, in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The expectancy of malignancy was 52.8% in "suspicious malignancy" and 26.7% in "atypical lesion".

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 1998

In order to review the clinicopathologic characteristics of the thyroid cancer associated with benign thyroid disease, we evaluated 47 patients treated between January, 1993 and September, 1997 at the Chonnam National University Hospital. In those period, we had operated a total of 690 thyroidectomy of which 320 were diagnosed as thyroid cancer. Forty three(91.4%)occurred in women and four(8.5%)occurred in men. The mean age at operation was 46.7years(range, 15 to 76 years). Forty three of the 47 cancers(91.4%) were papillary carcinomas while 4(8.5%)were follicular. Twenty four of the 47 patients (51%) were occult thyroid carcinomas measured less than 1 cm in diameter. The concurrent benign disease were nodular goiter(n=17), Hashimoto's thyroiditis(n=16), follicular adenoma(n=10), Graves' disease(n=2) and diffuse hyperplasia(n=2). Thirty one patients were diagnosed by preoperative FNAC and they underwent total thyroidectomy. Three were diagnosed by frozen section examination at the time of operation. Among them, one underwent total thyroidectomy and two underwent subtotal thyroidectomy. Eight cases revealed lymph node metastases and 2 cases extended to surrounding muscles. In conclusion, concurrent thyroid cancers and benign thyroid disease are not uncommon and a regular ultrasonic follow-up with selective aspiration cytologic examination is recommaned to enhance their diagnostic accuracy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2341-2344
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• 2014

Background: p53 protein expression has been detected immunohistochemically in papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC). We investigated the relations between its expression and clinicopathologic features and its significance as a diagnostic marker. Materials and Methods: We compared and evaluated 93 patients in whom thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection had been performed to treat PTC for clinicopathologic significance and 102 patients with 23 papillary thyroid overt carcinomas (POC), 57 papillary thyroid microcarcinomas(PMC), 5 follicular adenomas (FA), 5 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and 12 nodular hyperplasias (NH) for significance as a diagnostic marker. Expression of p53 protein was evaluated immunohistochemically in sections of paraffinembedded tissue. Results: Statistical analysis showed significantly different expression of p53 in PTC versus other benign thyroid lesions (BTL).The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 85.0% and 72.7%, respectively. Overexpression of p53 protein was observed in 44 of the 93 PTC cases (47.3%), but no significant correlation between p53 protein overexpression and clinicopathologic features (age, size, multiplicity, lymph node metastasis, extrathyroidal extension and vascular invasion) was noted. Conclusions: p53 is valuable to distinguish PTC from other BTL, but there is no correlation between p53 protein overexpression and clinicopathologic features.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2005

Objectives: Various techniques of endoscopic thyroidectomy have been developed in thyroid resection since 1998 in the aspect of excellent cosmetic viewpoint. Of them, we evaluated our experiences and advantages of gasless axillary approach technique for resection of dominant thyroid nodules. Material and Methods: Twenty-nine cases of thyroid nodules were operated by the technique of gasless axillary approach during one year from December 2003 to December 2004. Twenty four patients underwent total lobectomy and five patients were partial lobectomy. Results: The operation time of first case took 300 minutes, however it became gradually shortened with case experiences down to 100-120 minutes. Pathologically, nodular hyperplasia was twenty cases, follicular adenoma five cases, papillary carcinoma three patients, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis one patient. There was no case of conversion to open thyroidectomy. Three cases of postoperative hoarseness were recovered spontaneously in 3 months. Hospital stay was four days for most patients. The cosmetic result was excellent without visible scar in anterior neck and chest. Conclusion: Endoscopic thyroidectomy via gasless axillary approach shows excellent result in cosmetic view point with hidden incision scar at axilla, and shorter hospitalization. However a question of longer operation time for dissection of the long plane over pectoral muscle is still remained.

• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.311-315
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• 2018

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most prevalent type of thyroid cancer. In contrast, thyroid lymphoma is a very rare disease. Concurrent onset of both is very rare in the thyroid gland. Ultrasound (US)-guided Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a useful diagnostic tool, but occasionally pathology results may change after the surgery. A 56 years old woman visited with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and nodule on the thyroid gland isthmus on US exam. US-guided FNA was performed at thyroid nodule and diagnosed as PTC. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy. The pathological findings revealed a mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma accompanied with PTC. Authors report this unusual case with a review of literature.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-141
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• 2006

Purpose : It has been generally accepted that lobectomy is a standard surgical procedure in treatment of benign thyroid nodules. However lobectomy may cause postoperative hypothyroidism. Most of surgeons believe that nodulectomy has its limitation in treatment of thyroid nodules due to recurrence of nodules and presence of cancer. The current study attempts to determine whether nodulectomy is justified in aspects of preservation of thyroid function, risk of recurrence and complications. Methods: Data was collected retrospectively on 74 patients undergoing thyroidectomy(single nodulectomy, n=43;bilateral nodulectomies, n=9;lobectomy with nodulectomy, n=22) for benign thyroid nodules from 1999 to 2004. All patients were evaluated for complication, postoperative thyroid function, and recurrence of benign nodule and cancer were followed by regular ultrasonographic examination for 2-6 years. Results : The pathologic results of 74 patients were nodular hyperplasia(55 patients), Hashimoto's thyroiditis(8 patients), follicular adenoma(7 patients) and papillary carcinoma(4 patients). Average operation time was 30 minutes from skin incision to specimen out. In postoperative follow-up of 70 patients, six cases(8.5%) became mild hypothyroid, and ultrasonographically detected micronodule was also six cases(8.5%). There were no other complications. Conclusion : Thyroid nodulectomy appears to have advantages of relatively few complication and simple procedure with no access to laryngeal nerves. Therefore, it may be one of treatment options in selected cases of benign thyroid nodules.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.234-243
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• 1993

The thyroid nodules are the most common endocrine disease requiring surgical management. Up to date, various diagnostic techniques and surgical management have been developed. Authors analysed 2285 cases of thyroid nodules who were treated at Department of Surgery, Pusan National University for the duration of 10 years from January 1980 to December 1989 and the results obtained were summerized as follows: 1) Patients were composed of 1727 cases(75.8%) of benign nodule and 558 cases(24.5%) of malignant nodule. Benign nodule was prevalent in forth and fifth decade comparing with malignant nodule was sixth and fifth decade. The sexual distribution revealed female preponderance with 1:10.8 in benign nodule and 1:9.3 in malignant nodule. 2) The histopathologic classfication of benign nodule in decreasing order of frequency were follicular adenoma 1009 cases(54.8%), adenomatous goiter 573 cases(33.3%), simple cyst 65 cases(3.8%), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis 52 cases(3.0%). The malignant disease were papillary adenocarcinoma 460 cases(82.4%), follicular adenocarcinoma 69 cases(12.4%), undifferentiated carcinoma 13 cases (2.0%), and medullary carcinoma 7 cases(1.0%). 3) Fine needle aspiration cytology was performed in 1758 cases and it showed 80.5% of sensitivity, 96.5% of specificity, 19.5% of false negative and 80% of accuracy. 4) The location of nodule was 87.7%, in unilateral, 12.2% in bilateral. 5) On the radioiodine scanning, the incidence of benign nodule with cold nodule was 83.9% and the incidence of benign nodule with hot nodule was 7.5%. The incidence of thyroid carcinoma with cold nodule was 88.3% and the incidence of thyroid carcinoma with hot nodule was 4.6%. 6) Most cases of benign nodules were treated with lobectomy 82.6%, subtotal thyroidectomy 10.1% and subtotal lobectomy 3.0%. Malignant nodules were treated with lobectomy and/or isthmusectomy 37.6%, total thyroidectomy 17.7%, subtotal thyroidectomy 15.4%, and any thyroidectomy and neck dissection 13.5%. 7) Postoperative complications were developed in 3.8% of benign nodules and 13.8% of malignant nodules.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2007

With the wide use of ultrasonography and fine needle aspiration of the thyroid gland, the incidence of papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland is rapidly increasing nowadays. To improve the diagnostic accuracy of histopathologic findings of papillary thyroid carcinoma, various molecular markers have been used recently. We analysed the expression of galectin-3, cytokeratin 19 and HBME-1, using immunohistochemical technique in 37 cases of papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland to evaluate the diagnostic value of these molecular markers. Immunohistochemically, galectin-3 expression was found in 37 cases of papillary microcarcinoma. Its localization was mostly cytoplasmic. Cytokeratin 19 expression was found in 36 cases. It was mostly localized to the cytoplasm and membrane. HBME-1 expression was found in all cases. Its localization was plasma membrane. The expression of these three molecular markers was negative in the adjacent normal thyroid tissue and accompanying benign lesions, although there are scattered foci of incomplete positive staining in cases of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Our findings suggest that the immunohistochemical staining using antibodies for galectin-3, cytokeratin 19 and HBME-1 is an useful adjunctive method for the histopathological diagnosis of a papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid gland.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5565-5570
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of thyroid lesions among Saudi patients and to highlight the age and gender variations of these lesions as base line data. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from thyroid specimens received at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: The 292 thyroidectomy specimens received during the study period came from 230 (78.8%) females and 62 (21.2%) males giving a female: male ratio of 3.7:1. Age of the patients ranged from 14 to 95 years with a mean age 39.7 years. Two hundred and eleven (72.3%) cases were found to be non-neoplastic and 81 (27.7%) cases were neoplastic. The non-neoplastic group included: colloid goiter, including both diffuse and nodular goiter (170 cases; 58.2%), nodular hyperplasia (28 cases; 9.6%), Hashimoto/chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (12 cases; 4.1%), and Grave's disease (1 case; 0.3%). In neoplastic lesions, there were 7 benign tumors and 74 malignant tumors. Among the benign tumors, 5 were follicular adenomas and 2 were Hurthle cell adenomas. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumor accounting for 87.8% of all thyroid malignancies, followed by lymphoma, follicular carcinoma and medullary carcinoma. The size of papillary carcinoma was more than 2 cm in 40 cases (76.9%). Conclusions: Non-neoplastic thyroid lesions were more common than neoplastic ones. Colloid goiter was the most common lesion. Follicular adenoma was the commonest benign tumor and papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant lesion. There appears to be a slightly increased trend of papillary carcinoma diagnosis, most being diagnosed at an advanced stage.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.8-11
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• 2009

Background and Objectives : In the TNM 6th classification system, extrathyroidal invasion of differentiated thyroid carcinoma has been classified into T3(minimal invasion), T4a(extended invasion), and T4b(more extensive unresectable invasion) according to the degree and it has been recognized as an important prognostic factor. In this study, we investigated the prognostic significances of minimal extrathyroidal invasion in papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC). Material and Methods : We retrospectively studied 221 patients who are underwent thyroidectomy due to PTC from September 2003 to December 2006. Fifty-four(24.4%) patients had a PTC with minimal extrathyroidal invasion(Group A) and 167(75.6%) patients had a PTC without extrathyroidal invasion(Group B). The existence of minimal extrathyroidal invasion was based on operative and pathological findings. Results : Minimal extrathyroidal invasion in PTC was related to tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and operative method(p<0.001). But, there is no significant difference in age, gender, and multifocality between Group A and B. Hashimoto's thyroiditis was observed more frequently in Group B(p=0.019). Conclusion : These findings suggest that minimal extrathyroidal invasion is related to poor prognostic factors in PTC. Therefore, aggressive surgical approach is required when there is evidence of minimal extrathyroidal invasion in preoperative radiologic examination or operative finding.