Cytological patterns of thyroid lesions in Najran, Saudi Arabia: A 5-year retrospective study

OBJECTIVES: To assess the cytological pattern of thyroid lesions in Najran, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A retrospective study, from the period of January 2015 to December 2019. All patients with thyroid enlargement who were presented to different hospitals in Najran and assessed by fine needle aspiration cytology were included in this study. RESULTS: Of 1353 cases, 1138 (84.1%) were female and 215 (15.9%) were male. Most of the thyroid lesions were benign (72.5%) including follicular nodules (39.5%), Hashimoto’s disease (21.2%), and colloid nodules (11.8%). There were 107 (7.9%)cases of suspicious malignancy, and the most common malignant tumor was papillary carcinoma (10.2%). The 2(nd) age group (21-40 years) was the common age to be diagnosed with malignant tumors, particularly in males. The 3(rd) age group (41-60 years) was most affected by thyroid lesions, particularly in females. CONCLUSION: Most of thyroid lesions in Najran were benign, and females were more affected by thyroid lesions than males. However, papillary carcinoma was the 4(th) most frequent thyroid lesion in females, while it was the 2(nd) most frequent in males and diagnosed mainly in younger males (21-40 years). Finally, ages 21-60 years were associated with most of the thyroid lesions in both males and females.