Cytomorphological feature of thyroid gland lesions as seen in the Department of Pathology Makerere University, College of Health Sciences

Abstract

Background: Thyroid disease in East Africa continues to be endemic, despite national salt iodization. However, clinical and pathologic features predicting behaviour of thyroid cancer are still largely unknown and unstudied. The use of retrospective data to depict the factors associated with thyroid lesions among patients attending diagnosis at Makerere University Pathology laboratory has not been reported. Aim. To determine the cytomorphological patterns of thyroid gland lesions diagnosed in the department of Pathology of Makerere University –College of Health Sciences. Methods. A descriptive retrospective, clinic-based study in which we reviewed records of all patients referred to the pathology teaching Laboratory of Makerere University, for diagnosis of thyroid lesions, between January 2015 to December 2020. The retrospective data, including type of disease, cytomorpological features and malignancy status, were collected from the laboratory’s records and sorted synonymously for analysis. Data analysis: Collected data was coded, entered and cleaned in Microsoft excel 2013 spread sheet and exported to STATA software package for analysis. Univariate, and bivariate analysis performed at 95% CI and their corresponding p-value reported. Results. Out of the 299 participants considered, positive malignancy was 11.706%. The major diagnosis was colloid goiter (57.525%). Chi-square test was significant for background (Pearson chi2 (6) = 30.1117 P=0.000). Recommendations. Environmental factors, traditional, and iodine intake status should also be considered in further studies to determine their associations with thyroid lesions. Further studies should be conducted from other similar facilities to offer comparability results about the prevalence of thyroid lesions.