[A so-called atypical adenoma of the thyroid in an endemic struma area]

In view of the benign clinical course of the atypical adenoma and the high diagnostic accuracy of our frozen sections we feel that subtotal strumectomy with in toto removal of the adenoma and closely spaced follow-ups constitutes an adequate treatment of this thyroid neoplasm. In our opinion primary lobectomy means unnecessarily exposing a disproportionately high percentage of patients to the higher complication risk of this more radical surgery. From 1977 to 1982 there were 47 cases of atypical adenoma among our patients. The ratio men: women was 1:3.7, the mean age of the patients was 44 years. The patients underwent subtotal strumectomy. In the period under review "atypical adenoma" diagnosed on the basis of frozen sections turned out to be carcinoma in 5 instances. The follow-up period of the 47 patients that underwent surgery ranges from 1 1/2 to 7 years. None of the patients has had tumor regrowth so far.