Innovative thyroid ultrasound finds 49% of women executives show ‘significant’ abnormalities

Thyroid surgeons at a US women’s health conference have revealed abnormal findings in 49 per cent of the ultrasounds.

The experts from the Clayman Thyroid Center and Tampa’s new Hospital for Endocrine Surgery have teamed up with Tampa Bay Business & Wealth (TBBW) magazine for its annual Women’s Wellness Retreat where they screened women executives for thyroid cancer using state-of-the-art ultrasonography.

The event brought together female executives from the Tampa Bay area for a day of networking, relaxing and self-care.

The team from the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery performed free screening on over 70 per cent of the women in attendance and found abnormalities in 49 per cent of the ultrasounds.

Senior thyroid surgeon, Dr Rashmi Roy, led the program and reviewed each woman’s scans, connecting with those who had significant or abnormal findings to discuss the specifics of their case and suggest next steps.

“These women had no previous history of thyroid masses, nodules, goiters or cancer,” he said.

“So, this was a true screening program. We found 21 of the 43 women to have abnormal growths or cysts in their thyroid gland, 13 with scans suggested a more detailed workup and, possibly, biopsy was required and another five who were very likely to need surgery—possibly having thyroid cancer.”

One of the women identified with an abnormal finding was the event’s organiser and CEO of TBBW, Bridgette Bello, who was surprised by the results. 

She said: “The goal of this event was to really encourage these busy, successful women to take a time out for themselves and to prioritise their own health.

“So, I was thrilled to have the expert surgeons from the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery on board for their screening program. I didn’t expect to have so many women with suspicious findings and I certainly didn’t expect myself to be one of them.”

Thyroid cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women and it is currently the most quickly increasing cancer diagnosis in the US.

It affects women nearly three times as often as men. However, screening for thyroid cancer is not performed anywhere in the world. Breast cancer screening, on the other hand, has been routine for decades.

The findings in these women aged 30 to 65 suggest that thyroid cancer screening, in select populations, should be done, the experts argue.

For those who need additional workups, biopsies and surgery following the event, Dr Nate Walsh, another one of the hospital’s surgeons specialising in thyroid cancer, says that an expert evaluation at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery starts with a high-resolution ultrasound that looks at the thyroid gland and all the lymph nodes with a detection capability as small as one millimeter.

“If anything look suspicious, an ultrasound guided needle biopsy is immediately performed,” he explained.

“Endocrine pathologists are onsite and will immediately interpret the findings and determine if cancer is present. This process can take several weeks at most centres, but is provided at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery in about 20 minutes.

“If surgery is required, it can be scheduled out or performed the same day as the biopsy. This is particularly beneficial for traveling patients who need to streamline and expedite the process.”

The team plans to perform more free thyroid cancer screenings in Tampa Bay in the near future and continue offering this programme at future TBBW events.

Dr Gary Clayman, director of thyroid surgery at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery, said: “The good news is that we can identify cancers very early with this type of screening program which makes them nearly 100 per cent curable.

“When we find thyroid cancer earlier, it allows the robotic scarless approach possible in certain patients. This approach, which leaves no neck scar, whatsoever, is performed here at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery more than any hospital in the US.”

Robotic thyroid surgery is an innovative, new approach which involves using minimally invasive techniques to treat thyroid tumours and small thyroid cancers. The results are a smaller surgery with less pain, an easier recovery and no visible scar in the neck.