Classification of Thyroid Abnormalities among Patients Referred To the Radiation and Isotope Centre of Khartoum (RICK) For Thyroid Scan and Uptake

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to classify the thyroid abnormalities among patients referred to Radiation and Isotope Centre of Khartoum (RICK) for thyroid scan and uptake. The data was collected by using special data collecting paper among 200 patients referred to nuclear medicine department at RICK for thyroid scan and uptake, who constituted the research population . The study was conducted during a period of three months from March 2017 to May 2017, which constituted the same period during which the patients were referred. Distribution of the study population according to gender revealed that: a percentage of 85% of the sample population were females and 15% were males. Distribution of the study population according to age revealed that: 19 patients were < 20 years old (9% of all patients), 116 at the age of 21-40 years old (58%) , 58 patients were 41-60 years old (29%), 6 patients were of 61-80 years old (3%), and only 1 patient at the age category of 81-100 years old (0.5% of all patients). The frequency distribution of thyroid disorders was as follows: 46 patients with multinodular goitre (MNG)( represented 23%) , 19 patients with moderate diffuse goitre( represented 9%), Graves' disease appeared on 51 patients, 31 patients with mild diffuse goitre( represented 15%), cold nodules were 37 cases( represented 19%), 5 cases of toxic adenoma (represented 3%),7 cases of hypothyroidism (represented 4%), and 4 patients with thyroiditis( represented 2%). The percentage distribution of the thyroid disorders showed that the most common thyroid abnormalities among the study population was Graves' disease which represented 25% of cases. The lower common thyroid disease among the study population was thyroiditis which represented 2% of the study population. The study has come out with some recommendations and proposals which could be useful for nuclear medicine practice. The results may also constitute a baseline for putting a map for thyroid disorders in Sudan as general. A future studies in this field is greatly encouraged.