Occult Carcinoma of the Thyroid Gland
An Autopsy Study
A. Mitselou1, Th. Vougiouklakis1,
D. Peschos1, V.A. Boumba1,
P. Dallas2, N. Agnantis2
1Department of Forensic Medicine
and
2Department of Pathology, Medical
School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Aim: The aim of this study is to provide data about the
frequency of occult thyroids tumors (microcarcinomas) in the Epirus
population. No such investigations have previously been undertaken
in this region.
Material and Methods: Thyroid gland from 300 patients,
aged 6 to 100 years, without known thyroid disease were collected
from medicolegal autopsies in the years 1998-2001 in the region.
The thyroid glands were fixed in formol 10% and serially sectioned
at 3-5 mm intervals and microscopically examined.
Results: Glands were normal in 49,3%, while nodules
were observed in 27,3% and adenomas in 12,6%. Carcinomas were
found in 7,1% and occult papillary carcinomas in 6,7%. No microcarcinomas
were found in the thyroids of individuals less than 40 years of
age. There were no significant differences in frequency of occult
carcinomas between female and male patients.
Conclusions: We did not find an abnormally high prevalence
of occult papillary thyroid carcinomas compared with the most
other Countries, although it was higher than previous reports
for the Greek population.
Key words: Thyroid gland, Autopsy, Occult carcinoma, Papillary
microcarcinoma.
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