A 10-year review of thyroid lesions in a tertiary hospital in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid lesions are reputed to be the second most common of all endocrine lesions (next to diabetes mellitus) and thyroid cancer is reported to be the 16th commonest cancer globally. This study reviewed the spectrum and scope of thyroid lesions encountered in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria over a decade. Setting: National Hospital Abuja (NHA) is a 450-bed tertiary public hospital located in the cosmopolitan city of Abuja the capital of Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analytic study involving the entire thyroid specimen received in the department of histopathology from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2016. Results: Our study demonstrated that thyroid pathologies are commoner in females than males with a ratio of 6:1. Papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular adenoma are the commonest malignant and benign tumours respectively. Conclusion: Thyroid diseases are common cause of morbidity in our environment. The commonest malignant thyroid disease in NHA is the papillary carcinoma.