Thyroid Cancers at the Adolphe SICE General Hospital in Pointe-Noire (Congo - Brazzaville): Clinicopathological and therapeutic aspects of 13 cases

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancers are relatively rare malignant tumours. In Africa, the incidence of thyroid cancer has been increasing since 1970 in most countries. In Congo-Brazzaville, this increase can be explained by the accessibility of diagnostic means (ultrasound, cytopuncture), and the increasingly common practice of thyroid surgery. Materials and Method: This was a retrospective descriptive study carried out in the ENT and cervico-facial surgery department of the Adolphe SICE General Hospital in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo. This study covered the period from January 2005 to December 2017, a period of twelve (12) years. Results: 383 patients underwent surgery for a thyroid tumour, and according to the inclusion criteria listed above, 13 cases of thyroid cancer were retained (3.4%). The average age was 55.4±24.1 years with extremes ranging from 25 to 100 years. The sex ratio M/F was 0.44. The clinical presentation was revealed as a multinodular goiter in 8 cases (61.5%). The most common histological type was papillary carcinoma in 10 cases (77%). Total thyroidectomy was performed in 84.6% of our patients; it was performed immediately in 69.2% of cases. The development of morphological techniques (immunohistochemistry, cytogenetics) has brought considerable progress in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of thyroid cancer in recent years. Keywords: Thyroid Cancer; Frequency; Diagnosis; Treatment; Pointe Noire (Congo)