Experience with malignant tumors of the thyroid gland in a private surgical practice.

A review of malignant tumors of the thyroid encountered in a noninstitutional, private surgical practice has been presented. Clinical judgment, coupled with radioactive iodine scanning, has given effective diagnostic direction. Subtotal thyroidectomy, as used by our group, has achieved satisfactory results in this relatively small number of malignant tumors of the thyroid gland. Hopefully, this experience has held up satisfactorily under scrutiny and will be meaningful to other surgeons in similar settings.