[Latent carcinoma of the thyroid in surgical samples]

We present 23 cases of latent thyroid carcinoma which were examined in 356 surgical specimens (incidence: 6.4%), having found a sclerosing variant predominance. Of the total cases that were under study, twenty of them belonged to women (86%), and three to men (14%). Due to the fact that the concepts of latent thyroid carcinoma and occult thyroid carcinoma are often misused as synonyms, regarding both pathologies, we have carefully examined the available literature and therefore, we have made a critic analysis of both entities. We also made a detailed microscopic study of the surgical specimens and included a slice for histopathologic examination, which was evaluated every 5 g of tissue. The purpose of this last study responded to our consideration on the real incidence of latent thyroid carcinoma, which cannot be found in routine studies.