[Frequency of malignancy and indications for surgery in nodular goiter in an endemic area]

Goitre operations were done in 2114 patients; 1648 patients had a simple solitary nodule or multinodular goitre with regressive changes. Malignancies were found in 54 cases with a clear-cut predominance of papillary carcinomas. Nearly half of the goitres diagnosed as solitary nodules preoperatively were shown to be multinodular. This discrepancy was taken into account in the determination of the rate of malignancy. Malignomas were found in 4.6% of "true" solitary nodules and in 2.8% in multinodular goitres. These findings confirm our liberal indications for operation in multinodular goitres with regressive changes also in the area of endemic goitre. The high incidence of microcarcinomas in our patients can thus be explained.