Autonomously functioning thyroid nodule.
We report 408 cases of autonomously functioning thyroid nodule (AFTN); 85.5% occurred in female patients, for a male-female ratio of 1:6. Eighty-nine patients (21.8%) were hyperthyroid, 76 of them being female, also yielding a male-female ratio of 1:6. There was a linear increase in the incidence of hyperthyroidism with age and with an increase in the size of the nodule, especially for nodules more than 3 cm in diameter. There was a significantly higher incidence of hyperthyroidism for nodules of the same size when they occurred in patients more than 40 years of age. There was a corresponding increase in hyperthyroidism with an increase in the length of time after the initial detection of the nodule; this finding was significantly greater in patients more than 40 years of age. Thus, the age of the patient was found to be a more important determinant in the production of hyperthyroidism associated with an AFTN than either the size of the nodule or the duration of symptoms.
Sarda
A K
AK
Department of Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Padhy
A K
AK
Sharma
A
A
Kapur
M M
MM
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012737:Sex Factors; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D013997:Time Factors
D013963:Thyroid Hormones