Clinicopathological Study of Thyroid Disorders Managed at University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State

Thyroid disorders encompassing goitre, thyroid cancer, Graves disease, and hypothyroidism represent a clinically significant and frequently encountered group of conditions in surgical and endocrine outpatient settings across Nigeria. This study examines the clinicopathological features of thyroid disorders managed at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital over a five-year period from 2018 to 2022. A retrospective descriptive design is applied to endocrine clinic and operative records, extracting data on patient demographics, clinical presentation, thyroid function test results, ultrasound and cytological findings, histological diagnosis, surgical procedure performed, and postoperative outcomes. SPSS is used for statistical analysis. Regional literature from South South Nigeria notes a predominance of multinodular goitre and differentiated thyroid cancers among patients undergoing thyroidectomy, with papillary thyroid carcinoma as the most common malignancy. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology and the TNM classification for thyroid malignancies provide the diagnostic frameworks. Findings will contribute to the unit's clinical audit database and identify patterns that can guide pre-operative workup optimisation and patient counselling strategies. Keywords: thyroid disorders, clinicopathology, thyroidectomy, Port Harcourt, South South Nigeria.