Thyroid nodule differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mahshid Mir, M.D. [2]

Thyroid nodule differential diagnosis

In rare cases, a thyroid nodule may reflect one of the hereditary nonmedullary thyroid cancer syndromes such as familial adenomatous polyposis, Werner’s syndrome, Carney complex type 1, or Gardner’s syndrome

		Nodule property	Spread			Nodular growth	Laboratory
			LN	Vessle	Metastasis		TSH	FT4/T3	Imaging	Pathology	Associated mutation	special consideration
Benign	Colloid adenoma	Noncancerous enlargement of thyroid tissue May be painful	-	-	-	Intermediate Slow	NL	NL	iso- to hypoechoic may have internal cystic or heterogeneous change may have calcification multiple echogenic foci (of inspissated colloid) with comet tail artifac
	Hashimoto's thyroiditis	Rarely painful	-	-	-	Rapid Intermediate	↓↓	↓	hypoechoic micronodules (1-6 mm) with surrounding echogenic septations		HLA-A HLA-B
	Cysts nodules	Most common cause of painful neck lesion	-	-	-	Rapid Intermediate	NL	NL	cystic non-calcified nodules	Follicular cells Macrophages RBC Colloid	-	Mostly due to degenerating thyroid adenomas
	Follicular adenomas	Rarely painful	-	-	-	Intermediate Slow	↓↓	↑	thin peripheral halo predominantly cystic or mixed cystic and solid lesions isoechoic or predominantly anechoic can be homogenous or heterogenous absence of internal flow or predominantly peripheral flow indicates is associated with reduced probability of thyroid follicular malignancy	---	PAX8-PPAR gamma 1	---
	Hyperplastic nodules		-	-	-	Rapid Intermediate	↓↓	↑
	Macrofollicular adenomas		-	-	-	Intermediate Slow	↓↓	↑
	Microfollicular or cellular adenomas		-	-	-	Intermediate Slow	↓↓	↑
	Hürthle cell adenomas		-	-	-	Intermediate Slow	↑↓	↑↓
Malignant	Papillary carcinoma	Fixed Painless	+	+	Pulmonary Skeletal metastases	Intermediate Slow	NL	NL	solitary mass usually with an irregular outline, located in the subcapsular region and demonstrating vascularity 6. Small punctate regions of echogenicity representing microcalcifications (psammoma bodies)	unencapsulated and may be partially cystic papillae consisting of one or two layers of tumor cells surrounding a well-defined fibrovascular core; follicles and colloid are typically absent The nuclei are large, oval, and appear crowded and overlapping on microscopic sections. They may contain hypodense powdery chromatin, cytoplasmic pseudoinclusions due to a redundant nuclear membrane, or nuclear grooves.	RET/PTC NTRK1 RAS BRAF
	Follicular carcinoma	Fix Painless	+	+	Bone Lung	Intermediate Slow	↑↓	↑↓	lesions are typically hypoechoic usually lacks cystic change	FLUS Tumor capsule Vascular invasion	RAS mutations PAX8-PPAR gamma 1	Most common thyroid cancer in iodine deficient areas
	Oxyphilic (Hürthle cell) type carcinoma		+	+/-	+/-	Intermediate Slow
	Medullary carcinoma		+	-/+	Locally to neck all body organ systems	Intermediate Slow			Unifocal May present as multifocal	hypoechoic, microcalcifications		May be associated with other co-existing diseases Associated with high levels of calcitonin
	Anaplastic carcinoma	Dyspnea Metastasis Hoarseness of voice	+	+	Very aggressive Invade directly into adjacent organs, such as the trachea, larynx, esophagus, blood vessel and muscle, resulting in suffocation, vocal cord paralysis, dyspnea or dysphagia	Slow	↓	↑	Microcalcification  Infiltrative lesion	Cytologically malignant: Huge nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio Mitoses Presence or absence of necrosis	P53 BRAF	Very malignant, always considered as stage IV
	Primary thyroid lymphoma	Vocal cord paralysis Dyspnea Dysphagia	+	-	MALT lymphoma less aggressive Diffuse large cell lymphomas more aggressive	Intermediate Slow	NL	NL	nodular (hypoechoic mass), diffuse (mixed echotexture) or mixed Calcifications uncommon	Lymphoepithelial lesion Plasma cells Thyroid parenchyma displaced by lymphocytes	BRAF  NRAS MAPK	May be associated with hashimoto thyroiditis
	Metastatic carcinoma	Thyroid and extra thyroid manifestations	+	+	+	Intermediate Slow	↑↓	↑↓	-	-	-
Thyroglossal duct cysts		Mostly midline Can be painful if get infected	-	-	---	---	NL	NL	Cyst in subhyoid portion or lateral tip of the hyoid bone	---	---	---
Branchial cleft cyst		cystic mass that develops under the skin in the neck between the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the pharynx	-	+ May adhere to great vessels at the mandibular angle	---	---	NL	NL	Cyst between sternocleidomastoid and pharynx	---	---	---
Local abscesses		Painful mass in the neck, may be accompanied with erythema	+	-	---		NL	NL
Parathyroid cysts		painless mass	-	-	---	Rapid Intermediate	NL	NL
Parathyroid cancer		Lymphadenopathy Palpable lump in the neck	+	+	+ Rarely distant metastases, mainly  thyroid gland, overlying strap muscles, recurrent laryngeal nerve, trachea, or esophagus	Slow Intermediate	NL	NL