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Wilmington Endocrinology, P.A.
Ghobad Azizi, MD and Michelle Lewis, PA-C
1717 Shipyard Blvd., Suite 220, Wilmington
(910) 254-9464, www.wilmingtonendo.com
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Our team is excited to be rec-ognized
again on the North
Carolina Top Doctors List. We
see it as our mission to incorporate ad-vanced
technology into our work and to
detect thyroid disease as early as possible.
We are pleased to announce that our
office is currently utilizing 3D technol-ogy
and Elastography to detect thyroid
malignancy.
At Wilmington Endocrinology, we pro-vide
advanced care for endocrine disorders,
including autoimmune thyroid disease,
hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, thyroid
nodules and thyroid malignancy. Our
office places a strong emphasis on patient
education. Our new website is a great
resource highlighting new information
about different thyroid conditions, galleries
of thyroid images and videos, as well as
information about our office.
While rare compared to other cancers,
thyroid cancer is the most common
endocrine-related cancer. Thyroid cancer
usually causes no symptoms. Papillary
carcinoma is the most common, mak-ing
up about 60 percent of all thyroid
carcinoma diagnosis. It is typical to have
a Fine Needle Aspiration biopsy to know
if the nodule(s) is benign or suspicious for
malignancy.
An FNA biopsy, or fine needle aspira-tion,
is a simple procedure used to sample
thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules are
common, especially if a family member
has a history of thyroid nodules or thy-roid
disease. Nodules cannot be properly
evaluated with physical examination and
blood tests alone. Here at our office, the
procedure is done under ultrasound guid-ance
to ensure sample accuracy.
At Wilmington Endocrinology, we are
passionate about research. We are currently
evaluating better ways to detect thyroid
cancer, earlier, utilizing 3DTHYROID®
technology.
In our recent study, published in
Endocrine Practice (a journal of the Ameri-can
College of Endocrinology and the
American Association of Clinical Endocri-nologists),
on 2,500 patients with thyroid
nodules, we examined the relationship
between autoimmune thyroid disease and
cancer. We found that patients with auto-immune
thyroid disease may be at higher
risk for thyroid cancer. Specifically, an
elevated antithyroglubulin antibody level
is an independent risk factor for thyroid
malignancy.
Our current prospective study exam-ines
the correlation between sonographic
features of thyroid nodule and thyroid
malignancy, the possible higher incidence
of thyroid malignancy in patients with
rheumatologic disease, as well as the
familial aspect of thyroid disease, includ-ing
thyroid nodule, hypothyroidism,
and thyroid cancer. We also examine the
utilization of 3D thyroid technology in
detecting thyroid malignancy.
Please see our new website for more
information: www.wilmingtonendo.com.