Sociodemographic and Clinical Pattern of Thyroid Nodules in Sindh, Pakistan: A Prospective Analysis from a Tertiary Care Centre

Objectives: To study the sociodemographic and clinical patterns of thyroid lesions in Sindh, Pakistan.

Methodology: A prospective observational study was conducted at the department of Surgery, Ward - 26, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi between March 2018 to 2020. All patients presenting with complaints of thyroid nodule as diagnosed clinically and by ultrasound imaging were included in the study. Patients with deranged thyroid hormone levels were excluded. Sociodemographic, clinical, and pathological parameters were recorded in a predefined pro forma. Statistical Package of Social Sciences v.26 (SPSS) was used for data analysis.

Results: A total of 330 patients were evaluated for thyroid lesions. Out of these, only 81 patients were diagnosed with thyroid nodules. Mean age was 35.14 ± 12.28 years. We had 37 patients (11.2%) with a diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma. This included papillary and follicular carcinoma majorly. Among patients diagnosed with carcinoma, 31 (83.8%) were females.

Conclusion: We presented a significantly higher rate of thyroid carcinoma on histopathology in our centre as compared to previous studies. The majority of the lesions were diagnosed among females. This highlights the increasing incidence of thyroid carcinoma in our population.