Thyroid Disorders in Accra, Ghana: A Retrospective Histopathological Study at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

Authors

  • EM Der
  • SE Quayson
  • JN Clegg-Lamptey
  • EK Wiredu
  • RKD Ephraim
  • RK Gyasi

Abstract

There is a scarcity of data on thyroid disorders in Ghana. This retrospective study examined the spectrum and incidence of thyroid disorders by reviewing all thyroid disorders reported in the De-partment of Pathology, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) between 2004 and 2010. Data was collected on the clinical and histological characteristics of all thyroid disorders reported during the study. 1300 (3.7%) cases were reported, representing an annual incidence of 185.7 cases. The ages ranged from 1-86 years with a mean of 41.5 (SD=13.9). Most [353 (27.4%)] of the cases were be-tween 30-39 years group. Majority, 1141(87.8%) were females. The top eight common thyroid dis-eases were; non-toxic multinodular goitre 1002(77.5%), follicular adenoma 86(6.6%), diffuse toxic goitre 42 (3.2%), papillary thyroid carcinoma 40(3.1%), thyroglossal duct cyst 35(2.7%), Hashimo-tos thyroiditis 28(2.2%), lymphocytic thyroiditis 22(1.7%) and follicular carcinoma 17(1.3%). Sixty-six (43.4%) of the neoplastic thyroid disorders were malignant with a prevalence of 0.18 among thy-roid samples and annual incidence of 9.40 cases. The commonest thyroid cancer was papillary car-cinoma 40(60.6 %), with a mean age of 38.3 SD=16.1 years, majority, 34 (82.9%), were women. A wide spectrum of thyroid disorders exists in Ghana, with an annual incidence of 185.7 cases. The commonest malignant thyroid disorder was papillary carcinoma, though iodine deficiency is en-demic in Ghana and on this basis; one would have expected follicular carcinoma to be the com-monest thyroid cancer in Ghana. Keywords: Multinodular; Goitre; Papillary; Follicular; Adenoma, GhanaJournal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2013) 2(1), 1-7

Author Biographies

EM Der

Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

SE Quayson

Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

JN Clegg-Lamptey

Department of Surgery, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

EK Wiredu

Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

RKD Ephraim

Medical Laboratory Division, Department of Laboratory Technology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

RK Gyasi

Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

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Published

2013-04-08

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Articles