CHAPTER 11 Endocrine surgery
Thyroid
Congenital
The embryological line of descent of the thyroid gland is from the foramen caecum of the tongue to its normal position in the neck. Occasionally, it may descend lower and even to the superior mediastinum.
Symptoms of thyroid disease
Lump in the neck
• Smooth non-toxic enlargement of the gland. This is characteristic of a physiological goitre, which may occur at puberty or in pregnancy
• A smooth firm enlargement of the gland (occasionally asymmetrical), usually in middle-aged females and often associated with hypothyroidism, e.g. Hashimoto’s disease
• A solitary nodule in a lobe of the thyroid gland. This may be due to a palpable dominant nodule in a multinodular goitre, a cyst, an adenoma or a carcinoma
Hoarse voice
This is due to pressure on and/or malignant infiltration of one or both recurrent laryngeal nerves.
Investigation of thyroid dysfunction/swellings
Goitre
A goitre is an enlargement of the thyroid gland (for Classification → Table 11.1).
TABLE 11.1 Classification of goitres
Simple (non-toxic goitre) | Simple hyperplastic goitre Multinodular goitre |
Toxic goitre | Diffuse (Graves’ disease) Toxic nodule (adenoma) Toxic multinodular goitre |
Neoplastic goitre | Benign:
Malignant: |
Neoplastic goitre
Malignant
Differentiated (papillary and follicular)
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