Higher frequency of thyroid tumors in the right lobe.
Recently, using ultrasonography, we observed that the right lobe usually is larger compared with the left thyroid lobe. Since the higher cell number in a larger right lobe may confer a higher tumor risk, we investigated the location of benign and malignant lesions to test the hypothesis of a more frequent occurrence in this lobe. In 1,001 consecutive patients with benign thyroid lesions, tumors more frequently occurred in the right lobe (+21.5%, p = 0.0022). Furthermore, in 1,277 thyroid cancer patients with 1,302 thyroid cancers, the right lobe more often harbored the tumor initially (+22.9%, p = 0.0009). Our data show a larger proportion of both benign and malignant tumors in the right thyroid lobe.
Department of Medicine III, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria. alois.gessl@meduniwien.ac.at
Alois
A
Gessl
Wolfgang
W
Raber
Anton
A
Staudenherz
Alexander
A
Becherer
Oskar
O
Koperek
Andrea
A
Hofmann
D000236:Adenoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult