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Surgery for Solitary Thyroid Nodule Including Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

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Surgery of the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands

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Abstract

Thyroid nodules are common in the United States, with a prevalence of 4–7% for palpable nodules. However, nonpalpable nodules discovered incidentally on ultrasound or at autopsy suggest an overall prevalence of 19–67%. The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased from 3.6 per 100,000 in 1973 to 8.7 per 100,000 in 2002—a 2.4-fold increase—with 87% of the increase due to the diagnosis of small differentiated thyroid cancers. The association between increasing age and incidence of thyroid nodules makes their diagnosis and treatment an important public health issue.

The majority of thyroid nodules are benign. Colloid nodules, cysts, and thyroiditis account for approximately 80%, and benign follicular and Hürthle cell adenomas account for 10–15% of all thyroid nodules. Overall, only 5% of thyroid nodules are malignant. The challenge for a clinician is to distinguish patients with malignancy, who are treated surgically, from patients with benign disease, who often are followed clinically.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Maine Medical Center, 22 Bramhall Street, Portland, Maine, USA

    Leslie S. Wu M.D.

  2. Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar Street, 208062, New Haven, CT, 06520-8062, USA

    Sanziana Roman M.D.

Authors
  1. Leslie S. Wu M.D.
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  2. Sanziana Roman M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leslie S. Wu M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chairman, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstr. 21, Basel, 4031, Switzerland

    Daniel Oertli

  2. Yale-New Haven Hospital, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, Cedar Street 330FMB 102, New Haven, CT, 06520-8062, USA

    Robert Udelsman

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Wu, L.S., Roman, S. (2012). Surgery for Solitary Thyroid Nodule Including Differentiated Thyroid Cancer. In: Oertli, D., Udelsman, R. (eds) Surgery of the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23459-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23459-0_15

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23458-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23459-0

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