[Total versus subtotal thyroidectomy for multiple node goiter: experience with 350 surgically treated cases].
The surgical treatment of benign thyroid pathology and in particular the multinodular form is controversial. This controversy exists and one must choose either perform conservative surgical therapy such as lobectomy or sub-total thyroidectomy or total thyroidectomy. From January 1985 to July 1999, the Authors observed 534 cases of benign thyroid pathology. Of these 534, 330 were diagnosed with primitive goiter, and 20 with recurrent goiter; 13 cases of the primitive goiter type were found to have microfoci of carcinoma inside the goiter on the definitive histologic exam. There were 275 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and the remaining 75 cases with ultrasound proven multinodular goiter were treated with lobectomy or sub-total thyroidectomy, depending on the appearance at the time of the operation as well as the macroscopic and microscopic exams of the integrity of the glandular parenchyma performed while in the operating room. The Authors demonstrated that in multinodular goiter there is a high percentage of cases with disease involving the entire gland. Many areas of apparently healthy tissue are found to be microscopically involved with a variable grade of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or follicular hyperplasia or even lobular dysplasia with the tendency to form nodules. These signs of disease of this organ tend to recur if not treated.