Thyroid Nodules Essay

INTRODUCTION
Thyroid nodules (TNs) are a common disease, which occurs in 4 to 7% of the population[1]. Studies have shown that thyroid nodules are 4 times more common in women than men and the rate of thyroid nodules increases with age[2] .Because the majority of thyroid nodules are asymptomatic, they are not only discovered by physical examination but also incidentally during various imaging procedures such as carotid ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies or 18FDG-PET scanning. TNs are clinically important primarily due to their malignant potential. Although most of thyroid nodules benign, malignancy occurs in 5-15% of thyroid nodules[3]. For this reason the initial evaluation should always focus on the features that suggest the malignancy[4].
In thyroid ultrasound examination usually the patient should be in supine position with hyper extended neck for better visualization also sitting position is possible.
The thyroid consists of two lobes one in left and another in the right side and joined at the midline by the isthmus and have homogenous echo-texture, on transverse scans the lobes usually triangular and on longitudinal scans it

Thyroid FNA cytology is the safest, reliable and cost-effective diagnostic tool. The complications of FNA are very rare but may cause persistent pain, infection, hematoma and recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. FNA is a valuable diagnosing tool for excluding cases that don’t need surgery . Recent studies have shown decrease in the number of thyroidectomies by 50%. If FNA result indicates benign cytology usually just require follow up with serial ultrasound exams, but in some cases FNA result may not change clinical management of the patient such as negative FNAs patient result of nodules affecting the adjacent structures ,or nodules with higher likelihood of