Coexistence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis with papillary thyroid carcinoma. A retrospective study

OBJECTIVE: The association between Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains controversial in medical bibliography. The main objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of PTC and HT coexistence in histopathologic material of thyroidectomized patients. DESIGN: In a retrospective study, the clinicohistopathologic data of 140 patients (19 males/121 females), who underwent a total or near total thyroidectomy for any thyroid pathology from January 2005 to December 2009 at the Naval Hospital of Crete, were analysed. The mean age of the patients was 52 years (range 16-74). RESULTS: HT was detected in 42 (30%) and PTC in 32 (22.9%) specimens. Coexistence of HT with PTC was present in 12 (8.6%) specimens. Among 32 specimens with PTC, the prevalence of HT was 37.5%. Among 42 specimens with HT, the prevalence of PTC was 28.6%. There was no statistically significant difference between the presence of PTC and HT in histopathologic material. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of PTC and HT coexistence in histopathologic material of 140 thyroidectomized patients was 8.6%, whereas the difference between PTC and HT was not statistically significant.