甲状腺结节是一种临床常见病。流行病学研究显示，碘充足地区，有5%女性和1%男性存在可触及的甲状腺结节。经高分辨率超声检查，随机选择人群中甲状腺结节的检出率为19%~67%。甲状腺癌在甲状腺结节中的发现率为5%~10%。研究表明，甲状腺结节的发病率与病人年龄、性别、放射线接触史和家庭史及其他相关因素有关，其中碘摄入量对甲状腺结节的发病率存在非常重要的影响，有研究表明甲状腺结节的发病率随碘摄入量的减少而增加；近年来随着碘化食盐的普及，甲状腺癌的发病率也逐渐增加。

Etiology and epidemiology of thyroid nodules recognition      YU Xiao-hui， SHAN Zhong-yan. Department of Endocrinology, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang110001，China
Corresponding author： SHAN Zhong-yan， E-mail：shanzhongyan@hotmail.com
Abstract    Thyroid nodules are common in clinical practice. Epidemiologic studies have shown the prevalence of palpable thyroid nodules to be approximately 5% in women and 1% in men living in iodine-sufficient parts of the world. In contrast, high-resolution ultrasound can detect thyroid nodules in 19%-67% of randomly selected individuals with higher frequencies in women and the elderly. The clinical importance of thyroid nodules tests with the need to exclude thyroid cancer which occurs in 5%-10%. Studies have shown the prevalence of thyroid nodules is associated with age, sex, radiation exposure history, family history and other factors. And iodine intake is an important factor. Some studies showed that prevalence of thyroid nodules increased with the decreasing iodine intake. Recently the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased gradually.