Patient's question:
What are the harms of benign thyroid tumors to the body?Doctor's answer:
Thyroid adenoma is a chronic neck lesion characterized by a localized anterior neck mass, resembling a walnut, with a relatively hard texture, and mobility with swallowing. The main cause of its onset is long-term anger or melancholy, leading to liver qi stagnation, which in turn causes stagnation and coagulation of body fluids and qi, gradually accumulating into phlegm. The stagnation of qi and phlegm, with their mutual obstruction, accumulate in the anterior neck to form the lesion. Secondary factors include environmental conditions, diet, and constitutional factors. In the early stages of this disease, there are generally no obvious symptoms, and it is often discovered during a physical examination via ultrasound. After detection, most patients either undergo surgical treatment or choose not to treat it. Surgical treatment has a high recurrence rate of up to 98.2%, making it difficult to. If left untreated (due to the lack of obvious symptoms: painless, itchy), the disease may progress over time to become incurable or worsen into thyroid cancer. According to relevant data, the rate of malignancy transformation in thyroid adenomas is as high as 10% to 20%. Thyroid adenomas are quite common and often occur in individuals under 40, with the highest prevalence in women aged 20 to 40.Clinical manifestations:
1. Benign thyroid tumors, except for autonomous thyroid adenomas, are mostly seen as solitary thyroid nodules, with a few cases of multiple nodules. The course of the disease is slow, and clinically, there may be no subjective symptoms. Most are discovered after slight discomfort or when the nodule reaches 1 cm or larger, or they are found incidentally during a routine physical examination via ultrasound, revealing a neck mass. Most are solitary, round or oval, with smooth surfaces, clear boundaries, firm texture, and no adhesion to surrounding tissues. They are painless and can move up and down with swallowing. The tumor is usually several centimeters in size, with giant tumors being rare. Giant tumors may produce signs of compression on nearby organs but do not invade them, such as compressing the trachea, causing organ displacement. In a few cases, bleeding within the tumor may cause sudden enlargement and localized.
2. Autonomous thyroid adenomas are more common in women. Patients often have a long history of thyroid nodules, with early symptoms being mild palpitations, weight loss, or fatigue. As the condition progresses, patients may exhibit varying degrees of hyperthyroidism symptoms, and in rare cases, thyroid storm may occur.
3. Some thyroid adenomas may undergo malignant transformation, with a rate of 10% to 20%. Cancer transformation should be considered in the following cases: rapid recent enlargement of the tumor; restricted mobility or fixation of the tumor; the appearance of symptoms such as hoarseness or difficulty breathing; a hard and rough surface of the tumor; or the presence of cervical lymphadenopathy.