Recurrent Thyroid Lesions

Abstract

Postoperative recurrent goiter is characterized by the reappearance of thyroid pathology in patients who have previously been operated on for this condition. Recurrence is considered to be the thyroid disease that was observed prior to the surgery and was the reason for the operation. According to Akinchev et al. (2005), 89% of the diseases in a thyroid remnant are primary thyroid diseases. However, diseases that are different from the preoperative abnormality arise in some patients. Such cases should be considered new diseases of the thyroid remnant. The rates of recurrence for various thyroid diseases are as follows: multinodular euthyroid goiter 54.7%, Graves’ disease 14.5%, nodular euthyroid goiter 13.1%, multinodular toxic goiter 6.8%, thyroid cancer 1.3%, cancer with another pathology 2.8%, AITD 2.3%, nodular toxic goiter 1.7%, and undifferentiated thyroid cancer 0.8% (Akinchev et al. 2005).