Carcinoma and Thyroid Nodules

MOST of the numerous articles on nodular goiter and thyroid cancer are written by surgeons and presumably for surgeons1 2 3 4 5 6 7; the papers of Crile8 9 10 are a notable exception. Internists and general practitioners see most of the nodular goiters, and the majority of patients are never referred to the surgeon. The suspicious thyroid glands, however, are submitted for surgical scrutiny, as are the glands that are easily identifiable as cancer on physical examination. These not undesirable circumstances contribute measurably to the unintentional distortions in some surgical statistics. Time has produced little unanimity of opinion between the two groups. The figures of . . .