[Clinico-pathological study of thyroid carcinomas detected by mass screening]

Ultrasound examination is a useful diagnostic procedure in mass screening for thyroid tumors. Between September 1983 and September 1985, we found many cases of nodular lesions in the thyroid, in which we frequently detected small carcinomas by echo-guided aspiration cytology. Nineteen thousand eight hundred twenty-four samples were examined, and echo-guided aspiration cytology was carried out in 1,169 persons, from which 115 positive cases were obtained. Seventy-four patients were operated upon, and 71 of them (96%) were found to have carcinomas, including 40 cases of small papillary carcinomas less than 10 mm in largest diameter. These small carcinomas were classified into four types histologically. Echogram patterns were different from each other and corresponded to histological types. Cytological figures of the small papillary carcinomas were also varied.