Dr. Sheldon Rubenfeld Board Certified in Internal Medicine and in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism

Goiters and Thyroid Nodules

Any enlargement of the thyroid gland can be called a goiter. A thyroid nodule is a growth, or lump, in or on the thyroid gland.A patient with a goiter can be either hypothyroid, hyperthyroid, or euthyroid (normal thyroid function). The  presence of a goiter does not indicate how the thyroid gland is functioning. 

Several points about goiters and nodules:

• Thyroid surgery (thyroidectomy) for a goiter is uncommon.
• Goiters that contain either many thyroid nodules (multinodular goiter) or no thyroid nodules are not usually cancerous (malignant).
• The majority of thyroid cancers appear as a single thyroid lump, the solitary thyroid nodule.
• Approximately 90% of all solitary thyroid nodules are non-cancerous (benign).
• If a goiter is symmetrically (evenly) enlarged, it is referred to as a diffuse goiter.