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

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 Department 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 between 30-39 years group. Majority, 1141(87.8%) were females. The top eight common thyroid diseases 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%), Hashimoto’s thyroiditis 28(2.2%), lymphocytic thyroiditis 22(1.7%) and follicular carcinoma 17(1.3%). Sixtysix (43.4%) of the neoplastic thyroid disorders were malignant with a prevalence of 0.18 among thyroid samples and annual incidence of 9.40 cases. The commonest thyroid cancer was papillary carcinoma 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 endemic in Ghana and on this basis; one would have expected follicular carcinoma to be the commonest thyroid cancer in Ghana. Journal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2013) 2(1), 1-7