{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T01:04:30Z","timestamp":1783904670498,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768262400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We aimed to comprehensively investigate the occurrence of thyroid nodules in a nationally representative population as well as in women of reproductive age from a geographic area with adequate iodine intake over the last two decades.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Patients and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This prospective cross-sectional study included 653 adult participants from three groups: a nationally representative gender-mixed group (205 participants) and women of reproductive age, including non-pregnant (306 participants) and pregnant (142 participants) women. For each participant, demographic data were collected, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were measured, thyroid volume was estimated, and the presence and size of thyroid nodules were recorded with high-resolution ultrasound. The ultrasound characteristics were analysed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among the nationally representative participants, nodules were detected in 44.9%, with 39.0% larger than 5 mm and 13.7% larger than 0.5 mL. Among women of reproductive age, nodules were detected in 22.5%, with 14.1% larger than 5 mm and only 2.0% greater than 0.5 mL. The prevalence and size of nodules increased significantly with age in all groups, being significantly lower in non-pregnant women than in pregnant women, who were also older. In non-pregnant women of reproductive age, the number of nodules increased significantly after the age of 25, with the number of nodules larger than 5 mm increasing only after the age of 40.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Thyroid nodules are prevalent in the population, but are rarely clinically significant. Therefore, screening for thyroid nodules in asymptomatic individuals with normal thyroid findings on clinical examination should be avoided.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2478\/raon-2026-0001","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T11:00:21Z","timestamp":1768302021000},"page":"97-105","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Occurrence of clinically relevant thyroid nodules in adults"],"prefix":"10.2478","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"Katja","family":"Zaletel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katja","family":"Tuta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tina","family":"Usaj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katica Bajuk","family":"Studen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natasa Bedernjak","family":"Bajuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miha","family":"Jesenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tanja","family":"Radevska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edvard","family":"Pirnat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matej","family":"Gregoric","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Public Health , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Urska","family":"Blaznik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Public Health , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Masa","family":"Hribar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nutrition Institute , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Igor","family":"Pravst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nutrition Institute , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simona","family":"Gaberscek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026071216052894800_j_raon-2026-0001_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Durante C, Heged\u00fcs L, Czarniecka A, Paschke R, Russ G, Schmitt F, et al. 2023 European Thyroid Association clinical practice guidelines for thyroid nodule management. 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