A Histopathologic Study on 1,095 Surgically Resected Thyroid Specimens

A histopathologic study was made on 1,095 thyroid specimenswhich had been removed surgically under various diagnoses atSeoul National University Hospital during the six-year period,1976–1981. Among the 1,095 surgically removed thyroids,adenomatous goiter was the most common single disease, accountingfor 43% of all cases; this was followed by papillary carcinomaand follicular adenoma. Of the malignant tumors, papillary carcinomawas the most frequent, accounting for 259 cases, 76.85% of allmalignancies. Ground glass nuclei and psammoma bodies were seenin approximately 64% and 65% of the papillary carcinomas, respectively.Squamous metaplasia was, however, present in 17%. There werealso 53 follicular, 13 anaplastic and seven medullary carcinomas.Of the 56 occult sclerosing carcinomas, most were detected inthe backgrounds of the adenomatous goiters. Occult sclerosingcarcinoma was found in 9.2% of the adenomatous goiters and in4.3% of the follicular adenomas.