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A biopsy of the thyroid can be used to confirm a diagnosis of primary hypothyroidism in a patient with symptoms and test results that point towards hypothyroidism, especially with severe cases of lymphocytic thyroiditis and thyroid atrophy. A biopsy will not necessarily be able to inform about the health of the thyroid gland and its function.
An autonomous thyroid nodule or "hot nodule" is one that has thyroid function independent of the homeostatic control of the HPT axis (hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis). According to a 1993 article, such nodules need to be treated only if they become toxic; surgical excision (thyroidectomy), radioiodine therapy, or both may be used. [33]
Radioiodine therapy with iodine-131 can be used to shrink the thyroid gland (for instance, in the case of large goiters that cause symptoms but do not harbor cancer—after evaluation and biopsy of suspicious nodules has been done), or to destroy hyperactive thyroid cells (for example, in cases of thyroid cancer). The iodine uptake can be high ...
Colloid nodules may be initially identified as an unspecified kind of thyroid nodule. Follow-up examinations typically include an ultrasound if it is unclear whether or not there really is a nodule present. Once the presence of a nodule has been confirmed, the determination of the kind of thyroid nodule is done by fine needle aspiration biopsy. [7]
Treatment of a thyroid nodule depends on many things including size of the nodule, age of the patient, the type of thyroid cancer, and whether or not it has spread to other tissues in the body. If the nodule is benign, patients may receive thyroxine therapy to suppress thyroid-stimulating hormone and should be reevaluated in six months. [2]
Regular monitoring mainly consists of watching for changes in nodule size and symptoms, and repeat ultrasonography or needle aspiration biopsy if the nodule grows. [8] For patients with benign thyroid adenomata, thyroid lobectomy and isthmusectomy is a sufficient surgical treatment.
The overall 5-year survival rate of anaplastic thyroid cancer has been given as 7% [14] or 14%, [15] although the latter has been criticized as being overestimated. [15] Additional factors that affect prognosis include the person's age, the presence of distant metastases, the dose of radiation administered to the primary tumor and regional ...
Administering the radioactive isotope causes the thyroid to take in the lethal iodine and quickly radiation destroys it. [12] Typically overproduction of thyroxine using radio-iodine is blocked with one dose. The drawback to this treatment is the thyroid gland is completely destroyed and patients often develop hypothyroidism. Some do so only a ...