Association of Pre-operative Symptoms with X-ray Abnormalities in Thyroid Swellings

Introduction: Thyroid swelling is a common problem in clinical practice that poses challenges in detecting the type and size of the swelling. Despite the large number of patients the data available on such patients is relatively limited, especially regarding the appropriate pre-operative symptomatic and radiographic assessment. Objectives: To assess, the association of pre-operative symptoms with X-ray abnormalities in thyroid swellings. (1) To study the variation in tracheal position with increase in size of the swelling, (2) to study the symptoms related to increase in the size of the thyroid. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 30 patients with thyroid swellings >5 cm in ultrasonography, between 2011 and 2013. The parameters included were: Age, pathological data, radiography, thyroid function tests. Results: In present study, most of the patients fall in the age group of 31-40 years and almost all patients are females, i.e., 26 out of 30 were females and only 4 were males. Of the 30 patients, 15 (50%) had colloid goiter, 8 (26.3%) had multinodular goiter, 4 (13.3%) had nodular goiter, 3 (10%) had papillary carcinoma. 5 patients had tracheal deviation whose severity was categorized as mild, moderate and severe with 2 were mild and severe each.