PREVALENCE OF DIFFERENTIATED THYROID CANCER IN MULTINODULAR GOITER IN SULAIMANI GOVERNORATE

Background The global prevalence of multinodular goiter is high, with most cases occurring in developing countries. In recent literature, the incidence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma among patients with multinodular goiter has risen. Objectives To ascertain the prevalence of differentiated thyroid cancer in patients with multinodular goiter. Patients and method: This cross-sectional study was done in a teaching hospital in Sulaimani, Iraq, to determine the frequency of differentiated thyroid cancer in 64 patients with multinodular goiter admitted to the surgical ward from Feb 1, 2021, to Jan 31, 2023. A history and clinical examination, a fi ne needle aspiration, and a postoperative histopathology examination were performed to confi rm the diagnosis. Results The mean age was 39.4 years old with ± SD 11.2; more than half of the participants were between 30 and 50 (53.1%) and older than 50 (37.5%). Females were predominant at 53/64 (82.8%). 31.25% of the multinodular goiter patients had differentiated thyroid carcinoma by histopathology, while it was 21% by fi ne needle aspiration. The histopathology of multinodular goitre patients revealed that 68.75% had endemic goitre, 12 (18.75) had papillary carcinoma, and 6 (9.375) had follicular thyroid carcinoma. Smoking and older age were associated with differentiated thyroid carcinoma in patients with multinodular goiter. Conclusion With a high proportion of malignancy among multinodular thyroid goiter participants according to FNA and histopathology, the fi ne needle aspiration test result was a low-accurate tool for differentiated thyroid carcinoma diagnosis associated with multinodular goiter