Table 4.
Summary of studies evaluating long-term outcomes of patients with benign thyroid nodules
| Author year | Study design, country | Sample size | Mean age (years) | Mean nodule size (cm) | Patients with surgery during follow (%) | Reasons for surgery (%) | New diagnosis of Thyroid cancer (rate per patient) | Death due to thyroid cancer | Follow-up time description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee 2013 | Single center, USA | 738 patients | 50a | 2.3a | 136 (18.4 %) (92 immediate and 44 during follow-up) | 57 % symptomatic nodule | 2 (0.3 %) | NA | 140 patients with ≥3 years of follow |
| Negro 2014 | Single center, Italy | 249 patients | 55 | 1.6 | 6 (2.4 %) | NA | 0 | NA | Outcome assessed at5 years |
| Nou 2014 | Single center, USA | 1369 patients (2010 nodules) | 50 | 2.4 | 325 (24 %) | 60 % symptomatic nodule | 18 (1.3 %) | None | 8.5 years, mean follow-up time |
| Yeon Kim2014 | Single center, Korea | 819 patients (854 nodules) | 47.9 | 2.0 | 76 (9 %) | 22 % nodule growth | 10 (1.2 %) | NA | 4 years, mean follow-up time |
| Ajmal 2015 | Single center, USA | 263 patients | 53 | 2.7 | 129 (49 %) (48 immediate and 81 during follow-up) | 67 % symptomatic nodule | 13 (5 %) | NA | 3.0 years, mean follow-up time |
| Durante 2015 | Multicenter Italy | 579 patients | 52b | 1.4b | 32 (6 %) | NA | 4 (0.7 %) | None | Outcome assessed at5 years |
| Present study | Population based, USA | 327 patients with 363 nodules | 53 | 1.6a | 54 (17 %) | 44 %, symptomatic nodule | 2 (0.6 %) | None | 8.3 years, median follow-up time |
NA not available
a
Median
b
Complete cohort of 992 patients with 579 having biopsy-proven benign nodules