What are they?
Nodules are lumps within the thyroid gland. They are common and only 5% are malignant. Thyroid nodules require careful assessment as described below.

What are the causes of thyroid lumps?
Common causes include cysts, adenomas and colloid nodules with malignant causes being relatively uncommon.

Management of thyroid nodules?
When you attend clinic a basic clinical history will establish background information about the appearance of the lump and whether there are any particular risk factors for thyroid cancer. These risk factors include – previous radiation exposure, male sex and either young (<20) or older (>60) age.

Fine needle aspiration test?
This is the most important test and should be performed on almost all thyroid lumps. Fine needle aspiration involves removing a few cells from within a lump for microscopic examination using a small needle. The test is done in the clinic and provides a rapid aid to diagnosis. Examples of cells taken in this way are shown below.

Thyroid cysts – What are they?
Thyroid cysts are common causes of rapidly appearing lumps in the thyroid. They are diagnosed and often cured by fine needle aspiration. Cysts which recur after fine needle aspiration can be drained again but repeated recurrence is an indication for surgery.


Thyroid ultrasound
Ultrasound is often requested as a way of assessing a thyroid swelling.  However the scans add little to the overall diagnosis which is dependent on the fine needle aspiration test.  Ultrasound scans cannot determine whether a lump is benign or malignant.