Endocrine Abstracts

Nodular thyroid disease is frequently observed in patients with acromegaly. The aim of this study is to evaluate thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer frequency in acromegalic patients. The data of 125 acromegalic (55 males and 70 females) patients followed over 10 years were evaluated retrospectively from the recorded files. Data for gender, age, duration of acromegaly, thyroid function tests, thyroid ultrasonography (US), and thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and thyroidectomy pathological specimen results were analysed. The mean age of the patients was 46.9±10.4 years and the mean disease duration was 10±4.8 years. Multinodular goitre was discovered in 66 patients (42.5%), solitary nodule in 11 patients (8.8%), diffuse goitre in three patients (2.4%), and nodule was not detected in 45 patients (36.0%). Nodule size was smaller than 10 mm in 31 patients (40.2%) and larger than 10 mm in 46 patients (59.7%). FNAB was recommended to all of the patients who had nodules larger than 10 mm and whose nodules were smaller than 10 mm and looked suspicious at imaging. FNAB was performed in 35 patients who accepted the procedure and the results were benign in 30 patients, malignant in three patients, atypia of undetermined significance in one patient and suspicious for follicular neoplasm in one patient. Total thyroidectomy was administered to 14 patients and subtotal thyroidectomy to two patients. One thyroid follicular carcinoma and four thyroid papillary carcinomas (4%) were diagnosed and all of the patients received radioactive iodine treatment for ablation of the residual tissue. Thus acromegalic patients should be routinely submitted to thyroid ultrasound evaluation, followed by FNAB of nodules when indicated. Acromegalic patients must be considered as a high-risk group for the development of thyroid cancer and must be closely followed for thyroid nodules and tumours.