The Clinical and Pathological Presentation of Thyroid Nodules in Children and the Comparison with Adult Population: Experience of a Single Institution

Table 1

Comparison of distribution of thyroid disorders in younger and older patients.

	Group 1 (age 3–20)		Group 2 (age 21–90)		Significance
Age (min–max)	3–20		21–90
Age (mean ± SD)	14.9 ± 3.39		47.3 ± 14.7
		%		%
All patients	3010		3010
Intact thyroid	1730	57.5	387	12.9
Not fully intact thyroid	249	8.3	229	7.6
Diseased	1031	34.3	2394	79.5
Graves’ disease	108 ()	10.5	171 ()	7.1
Primary hypothyroidism	255 ()	24.7	821 ()	34.3
Hashimoto in euthyroid state	397 ()	38.5	372 ()	15.5
Hashitoxicosis	39	3.8	65 ()	2.7
Congenital hypothyroidism	5	0.5	0	0.0
De Quervain’s thyroiditis	1	0.1	37	1.5
Acute thyroiditis	0	0.0	2	0.1
Autonomous nodule	6	0.6	45	1.9
Other nodules	209	20.3	775	32.4
Previously operated	11	1.1	106	4.4

The number of patients with thyroid nodule greater than 1 cm in maximal diameter is given in parentheses.
These terms were used for those patients who were euthyroid and presented an echonormal thyroid on ultrasound, and the thyroid contained no discrete lesion or only discrete lesion less than 5 mm in maximal diameter, intact thyroid or not fully intact thyroid, respectively.