Pattern of Thyroid Disorders in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, South-West, Nigeria

Thyroid disorders are the commonest endocrine diseases encountered in the adult endocrine outpatient department, after diabetes mellitus. Its aetiologies are diverse, with far-reaching consequences. We aim to describe the pattern of thyroid disorders in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital.

A 5-year retrospective analysis of medical records of patients with thyroid disorders who presented to the medical and surgical outpatients of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. Information on age, gender, symptomatology, and duration, as well as physical findings, laboratory investigations, radiological and pathological findings, and diagnosis, was extracted. Descriptive analysis was done with SPSS version 25.

There were 103 patients aged 42.0 (13.4) years, of whom 99 (96.1%) were females. The median duration of symptoms was nine months, and 87.3% of patients presented with goitre. Hyperthyroidism was present in 56.5%, hypothyroidism in 12.0%, and euthyroid state in 12.0% each. The most common symptoms among patients with thyrotoxicosis were weight loss (86.5%), followed by palpitations (84.6%), diaphoresis (67.3%), heat intolerance (63.5%), increased appetite and fatigue (40.4%). Graves' disease was the commonest cause of hyperthyroidism (53.9%), followed by toxic multinodular goitre (19.2%). The commonest cause of hypothyroidism was thyroidectomy (27.3%). Thyroid ultrasound revealed multinodular goitre, diffuse goitre, single nodule, and normal findings in 53.1%, 37.5%, 7.8%, and 1.6%, respectively. Fine needle aspiration cytology revealed a benign lesion in most (78.8%) samples.

Most of the patients with thyroid disorder had hyperthyroidism, with Graves' disease as the commonest aetiology, followed by toxic multinodular goitre. The commonest cause of hypothyroidism is thyroidectomy.