الفهرس 
Introduction and aim of the workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The evaluation of solitary thyroid nodule is a very common thyroid problem especially in females, female to male ratio is 4:1 and most cases are usually benign. This study was done on 150 cases of solitary thyroid nodule to study the histopathological features of the underlying etiology and compare it to the published figures, to study the incidence of neoplasia and malignancy in solitary nodules, the frequency of each entity of diagnosis, the relation to age and gender and mention some of the problems of diagnosis. The non neoplastic nodules were 40.7%, the benign neoplastic nodules were 29.3% and the malignant nodules were 30% of the total. The commonest cause of solitary thyroid nodules in this study was the goiterous nodule, followed by follicular adenoma and finally, the commonest malignant neoplasm was papillary carcinoma which came in agreement with the published studies. Female predilection was noted in this study in both benign and malignant categories of diagnosis, but the female to male ratio was lower in malignant than that in benign. The nodules in this study showed a wide range of age between 15 to 80 years, the incidence of malignancy was higher in the older age group reaching 71 % above the age of sixty. The sampling technique used for pathologic examination of specimens is of great importance for diagnosis. Most thyroid tumors are diagnosed by morphology alone; however, immunohistochemistry is used for definitive diagnosis in case of unusual looking tumor. Markers that can be of great help in diagnosis include chromogranin, calcitonin, S-100 protein, HMWK, CK19.