Ultrasonographic prevalence of thyroid incidentaloma in Bushehr, Southern Iran

Thyroid nodule is one of the most common endocrine disorders. 5%–
10% of thyroid nodules undergo malignant degeneration. The objective of this study was to
determine the prevalence of thyroid incidentaloma in Bushehr, southern Iran.
Patients and Methods: A total of 1503 consecutive 15 to 65-year-old patients who were referred
to Fatemeh Zahra Hospital for any ultrasonographic examination other than the thyroid
gland were included in this study. All patients underwent dedicated thyroid ultrasound by a
10 MHz linear probe for detection of thyroid nodules in the supine position.
Results: The prevalence of thyroid nodules was 13.6%. The nodules were observed in 17.5% of
the women and 8.5% of the men. 61.8% of the nodules were smaller than 1 cm. Thyroid nodules
were more frequent in older people.
Conclusion: Bushehr has a high prevalence of thyroid nodules. The prevalence is age dependent
and is higher in women than men