Research Article

Thyroid Nodules Located in the Lower Pole Have a Higher Risk of Malignancy than Located in the Isthmus: A Single-Center Experience

Table 4

Comparison of postoperative pathological outcomes with demographic and clinical characteristics.

VariablesPostoperative pathological outcomes
Benign (n = 998)Malignant (n = 102)Incidental (n = 42)

Age52.57 ± 12.92a48.93 ± 12.50b53.62 ± 11.19ab0.019

Gender
 Female798 (80.0)82 (80.4)30 (71.4)0.391
 Male199 (20.0)20 (19.6)12 (28.6)

TSH (mIU/L)1.33 (0.74–2.40)a1.88 (0.97–2.70)b0.97 (0.31–1.79)c0.001

Nodule size (mm)17.6 (13.0–25.0)a16.0 (12.0–27.5)a24.1 (18.0–33.5)b0.013
 <1069 (6.9)a11 (10.8)a4 (9.5)a0.022
 10–20519 (52.1)a49 (48.0)a11 (26.2)b
 20–40340 (34.1)a34 (33.3)a21 (50.0)a
 >4068 (6.8)a8 (7.8)a6 (14.3)a

MTN
 No338 (34.0)a37 (36.6)a5 (11.9)b0.009
 Yes657 (66.0)a64 (63.4)a37 (88.1)b

Nodule number2.00 (1.00–4.00)a2.00 (1.00–3.00)a3.00 (2.00–5.25)b0.020

Hashimoto’s
 No895 (89.9)91 (90.1)31 (83.8)0.471
 Yes100 (10.1)10 (9.9)6 (16.2)

Hyperthyroidism
 No941 (94.6)ab100 (99.0)a31 (86.1)b0.009
 TMNG37 (3.7)a1 (1.0)a1 (2.8)a
 Grave’s8 (0.8)a0 (0.0)a0 (0.0)a
 Iatrogenic9 (0.9)a0 (0.0)a4 (11.1)b

Data are expressed in mean ± standard deviation n (%) and median (1st quartile-3 rd. quartile). Similar letters on the same line indicate similarity between groups and different letters indicate differences between groups.