Thyroid nodularity in children

Abstract

Of 5,179 school children surveyed in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona for thyroid abnormalities because of possible exposure to radiation from fallout, nodularity of the thyroid was found in 98 (1.8%). In 34, the nodularity represented lobulation associated with adolescent goiter, and in 31, thyroiditis. Two malignant neoplasms were found. In a normal childhood population in which nodularity is incidentally discovered on physical examination, the risk of nodularity being malignant is approximately 2%. Factors that favor exploration of thyroid nodules in children are discreteness, growth of the mass, singleness, and absence of other thyroid disease.