[Thyroid nodules associated with Graves' disease: another argument for surgical treatment]

Much controversy surrounds the incidence of thyroid cancer associated with Graves' disease. We studied retrospectively 110 patients operated on for Graves' disease between 1991 and 1996. Each patient was evaluated by clinical exam, biological test, ultrasonography, and scintigraphy. No patient had a history of prior external radiation to the head or the neck. All patients underwent near total or total thyroidectomy. Nodules in the thyroid were detected in 28 cases: 6 were papillary carcinoma (5.5% from patients with Graves' disease, and 21.4% from patients with Graves' disease associated with thyroid nodules). These data suggest interest of surgery in Graves' disease associated with thyroid nodules.