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Rates of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in a cohort of patients undergoing first endocrine consultation for thyroid nodular disease

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the rates of necessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in a cohort of patients undergoing their first endocrine consultation for thyroid nodular disease.

Methods

This was an observational study conducted between January 1 and June 30, 2023, on patients undergoing their first endocrine consultation for thyroid nodular disease. Data were collected, including age, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration, reasons for performing thyroid ultrasound (US), and thyroid US reports. The US was performed at the time of the endocrine consultation according to the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System (ACR-TIRADS) risk stratification system. Patients underwent further investigations/treatment or simple US follow-up as necessary.

Results

A total of 373 patients with thyroid nodules were evaluated. Reasons for undergoing thyroid US were unrelated to suspected thyroid disease in 126 (33.8%), incidentalomas in 91 (24.4%), dysfunction or positivity for thyroid antibodies in 67 (18%), symptoms or visible nodules in 61 (16.3%), and family history of thyroid disease in 28 (7.5%). A total of 193 diagnostic or therapeutic procedures were performed in 133 (35.7%) patients [fine-needle aspiration (FNA): 121 (62.7%), surgery: 28 (14.5%), percutaneous ethanol injection: 20 (10.4%), scintigraphy: 10 (5.2%); thermal ablation: 7 (3.6%), and radioactive treatment: 7 (3.6%)].

Conclusions

In the present study only one-third of the patients undergoing endocrine consultation with first detected thyroid nodules required any diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrinology, “V. Fazzi” Hospital, Lecce, Italy

    Roberto Negro & Gabriele Greco

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  1. Roberto Negro
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  2. Gabriele Greco
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by R.N. and G.G. The first draft of the manuscript was written by R.N. and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Roberto Negro.

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Negro, R., Greco, G. Rates of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in a cohort of patients undergoing first endocrine consultation for thyroid nodular disease. Endocrine 83, 719–723 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03540-2

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