THE INCREASING INCIDENCE OF CARCINOMA OF THE THYROID IN A SURGICAL PRACTICE

Abstract

A total of 117 persons with thyroid carcinoma were admitted to a hospital in a period of 15 years. The number from 1943 to 1953 was 34, and the mean annual morbidity for that period was calculated to be between 3 and 4. The mean annual morbidity for thyroid carcinoma in the next five years (1953 to 1957) was between 16 and 17, a marked increase over the previous period. One-fourth of this increased morbidity was accounted for by valid reasons such as the great number of patients seen at the hospital and examined for diseases of the thyroid. Since only a part of the apparent statistical increase in thyroid carcinoma could be accounted for, further investigation is desirable. The possibility that there has been an actual increase in the occurrence of carcinoma of the thyroid could not be ignored.