Thyroid Carcinoma During Childhood and Adolescence

摘要

We carried out a retrospective study of 20 cases of thyroid carcinoma followed at the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit of Santa Casa de Sao Paulo between 1982 and 2002. Asymptomatic thyroid nodules were the most frequent clinical presentation. Ad-enomegaly was present in 50% of the cases at the time of diagnosis. Female patients were more affected than males at a proportion of 3:1. Scintigraphy showed a predominance of cold nodules, and ultrasonography showed the presence of solid nodules and/or solid with cystic components. Fine needle aspiration biopsy was done in 12 cases and was positive in 6 (50%), and in 4 cases, the cytology results were suspicious. The treatment of choice was total thyroid-ectomy with lymphadenectomy, followed by whole-body scan and ablative radioiodine therapy. Postoperative treatment sought to maintain suppressed levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone and serum thyroglobulin. Although children and adolescents with thyroid carcinoma have a better prognosis than adults, we found that metastasis at the time of diagnosis is more frequent in children than in adults.