The results of ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland in children with hypothyroidism

Abstract

Diseases of thyroid gland (TG) rank first among all endocrine pathologies and remain one of the most difficult problems. According to the statistics of Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the prevalence of hypothyroidism in children does not exceed 0.035%. However, the relatively low rate can be explained by the low level of detection and diagnosis of this pathological condition due to the variability and low specificity of its symptoms. More acceptable for practice are methods of ultrasound diagnosis of the thyroid gland and laboratory examination of the content of thyroid-stimulating hormone in the serum.
 Aim. To evaluate the results of ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland in children with hypothyroidism.
 Methods. The results are based on a survey of 94 children with hypothyroidism living in the Chernivtsi region aged 2 to 10 years. An ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland, determination of the level of thyroid hormones (thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) was performed. Statistical analysis was performed using standard methods using the StatSoft software package © Statistica® 6.0 for Microsoft® Windows XP.
 Results. Analysis of the results of the study showed that in 59.6% of cases (56 out of 94) the diagnosis was made by screening for congenital hypothyroidism, and in 40.4% of cases (38 out of 94) the disease was diagnosed outside the screening. According to the results of our ultrasound, it was found that in 29 patients the thyroid tissue was not visualized in a typical place or its total volume was much less than normal. Of these, in 12 individuals, thyroid tissue was not reliably visualized at the site of TG projection, and in 17 cases was hypoplasia. In 65 patients, the TG was in a typical place, and its volume corresponded to the norm on the surface area of the body. In 85 people, regardless of the state of functional activity of the TG had a heterogeneous echostructure of the thyroid parenchyma), in 9 people the echostructure of the thyroid parenchyma was homogeneous. In thyroid hypoplasia, the level of TSH was at lower values (p <0.05) compared with thyroid dystopia.
 Conclusion. Sonographic examination of the thyroid gland has a high level of information. In cases of malformations of the thyroid gland there is a more pronounced degree of thyroid insufficiency.