Clinical, Ultrasonography and Histopathological Evaluation of Solitary Thyroid Nodules: A Multicentre Experience from Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from July 2023 to June 2024, in three tertiary level teaching hospitals in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in patients with solitary thyroid nodules. A total of 200 patients were included in this study, who were diagnosed clinically with solitary thyroid nodules and referred to the Department of Radiology & Imaging of the corresponding institution for ultrasonographic evaluation. Each patient received a preoperative evaluation that included history-taking, physical examination, thyroid function tests and ultrasonogram. The following data was collected for all patients: age, sex, any history of exposure to radiation, family history of thyroid disorders, clinical features of the thyroid nodules, and thyroid hormone profile and ultrasound findings. After operation, we collected the histopathological report as well for comparison. Out of 200 patients, most of the patients were in the 21–40 years age group (41.5%), followed by 41–60 years age group (35.5%). The mean age was 36.82±11.37 years. A female predominance (83.5%) was observed; male-female ratio was 1:5. Among presenting complaints, all the participants had complaints of thyroid swelling (100%), followed by pain (22%), dysphagia (17.5%) and hoarseness of voice (9.5%). Thyroid function tests revealed that 38% had euthyroid state, while 56.5% had hypothyroidism and 5.5% had hyperthyroidism. Ultrasonography findings revealed that the most of the thyroid nodules were at the right side (54.5%); most of the benign lesions had regular margins (91.4%), while most of the malignant nodules had irregular margins (85.7%). Microcalcification was present in 16% cases, while comet tail sign was present in 10.5% cases. However, presence of Halo was observed only in benign lesions (14.5%). Histopathological examination revealed that among benign lesions, most of them (57.7%) were nodular goiter, followed by follicular adenoma (19.4%) and thyroiditis (12.9%), while among malignancy, papillary (64.3%) and follicular (35.7%) carcinomas were found. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of the malignancy of thyroid gland were found 97.85%, 71.43%, 97.85%, 71.43% and 96.0%, respectively.

International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 10 No. 03 Jul’26 Page: 199-203