The Clinical and Histopathological Characteristics of Thyroid Gland Diseases in Adolescents Requiring Surgical Treatment

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to assess the clinical and histopathological characteristics of thyroid gland diseases in adolescents requiring surgical treatment.

Materials and methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from 2024 to 2025. The study covered 40 patients from the population of adolescents aged 16 to 20 years with various malignant and benign thyroid gland diseases. All patients were surgically treated. All patients were presented to the thyroid disease counseling board to decide on the optimal mode of surgical treatment, as previously described.

Results: The present study included a total of 40 patients. There were 75% of females and 25% of males. The majority of the study sample (65%) were 19–20 years of age, while 35% were 16–18 years of age. The most common diagnosis was nodular goiter, found in 15 patients (37.5%). It is followed by diagnoses of Graves’ disease, struma polynodosa and Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 2A. The majority of patients were asymptomatic (37.5%). Biochemical parameters of the thyroidal function are presented in Table 4. The mean value of T4 was 94.21 ± 40.81, while FT4 was 13.38 ± 6.65. Oppositely, the ratio of T3 and FT3 was more favorable (4.00 ± 10.45 vs. 3.01 ± 2.12), while the mean value of TSH was 1.13 ± 1.70. The majority of patients, 23 (53.67%), underwent total thyroidectomy or thyroidectomy combined with another procedure or hemithyroidectomy. The second most common approach was lobectomy of various types, while a central dissection was performed in fewer patients.

Conclusion: The results of the current investigation indicate that papillary carcinoma is the sole form of well-differentiated tumor that is observed in adolescents. Furthermore, this research is groundbreaking in that it has demonstrated that the clinical presentation of cancer in adolescents is nearly identical to that of adults, a phenomenon that has never been observed in this field.