Background: Hürthle cell tumors still pose issues concerning diagnosis and management.
Methods: From 1984 to 1993 forty-seven patients underwent thyroidectomy, and they were diagnosed after operation to have presumptive Hürthle cell tumors. The surgical pathologic findings were reviewed. In the neoplastic group the chart was reviewed for clinical features and outcome.
Results: Thirty-one patients had nonneoplastic Hürthle cell nodules. Eleven (69%) of the 16 tumors were malignant affecting 11 women and five men ranging in age from 22 to 86 years. Two patients died of cancer for a 18% rate; one patient is alive with disease. Operations were uncomplicated. Factors for adverse outcome include tumor size greater than 4 cm, woman older than 60 years of age, and complete capsular invasion on surgical pathologic findings.
Conclusions: Fine-needle aspiration biopsy demonstration of Hürthle cell lesion is an indication for operation, providing Hashimoto's thyroiditis is excluded. Our surgical practice (I.B.R.) is to perform total thyroidectomy for all Hürthle cell neoplasms, as well as jugular node sampling and adjuvant radioiodine for cancer. Stringent histologic interpretation is possible and necessary for true appreciation of Hürthle cell tumor incidence and behavior. Cancer mortality of 18% is greater than the rate (2%) of our well-differentiated thyroid cancer group.