[Solitary and multiple thyroid nodular pathology (results of 1,300 surgical interventions)].

To evaluate the results of single and multinodular thyropathies surgical treatment, 1.300 cases operated on from january 1974 to december 1987 were reviewed. 842 patients (64.7%) were female; the average age was 41 +/- 2.4 year. Thyroid pathology was represented by solitary nodule in 643 cases (49.4%); multinodular goitre in 559 cases (43.0%) (377 euthyroid, with multinodular lesions extended to the entire gland; 182, hyperthyroid); retrosternal goitre in 78 cases (5.9%); recurrent goitre in 20 cases (1.5%). The patients underwent to: total thyroidectomy (525 cases); subtotal thyroidectomy (132 cases); total lobectomy (322 cases); subtotal lobectomy (321 cases). Post-operative follow-up (clinical exam; T3, T4, TSH, calcemia and phosphatemia) was performed at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after surgery). The overall mortality was 0.13 percent (two deaths, respectively after total = 0.1% and subtotal thyroidectomy = 0.7%). Immediate postoperative complications were: recurrent palsy (9 cases: 0.6%; acute respiratory failure with temporary tracheostomy (10 cases: 0.7%); hypoparathyroidism (3 cases: 0.2%). Late sequelae (1-3 year) were: recurrent nerve palsy in 7 patients (0.5%); hypoparathyroidism in one case (0.07%). 46 patients (34.8%) which underwent subtotal thyroidectomy were hypothyroid to T3, T4, TSH tests (1 year). Such sub-clinic pathology required levo-thyroxin treatment. New concepts on the pathogenesis of multinodular goitre (growth autonomy of goitre human tissue; the lack of levo-thyroxin therapy to prevent relapses after subtotal thyroidectomy) and the results drawed from the revision of this series seems confirm the indication to lobectomy for solitary "cold" nodules and thyroidectomy for treatment of normo and hyperthyroid multinodular goitre.