Abstract | OBJECTIVE: DESIGN: A population study including 4649 randomly selected subjects. MEASUREMENTS: RESULTS: Thyroid volume was categorized as small (< 6.6 ml) in 4.7%, normal (6.6-14.9 ml) in 60.4% and large (> 14.9 ml) in 34.9% of participants. Thyroid nodules were found in 29.7%. Serum TSH was low (< 0.4 mIU/l) in 4.7%, normal (0.4-3.6) in 91.0% and high (> 3.6) in 4.3%. The prevalence rate of subclinical goitrous Hashimoto's disease was 0.62% and of subclinical autoimmune atrophic thyroiditis 0.24%. There was a strong association between large volume and autoantibodies, but only in subjects with elevated TSH (P < 0.001). An association between thyroid nodules and TPO-Ab in univariate analyses (P < 0.001) was due to confounding by sex and age (multivariate model, P = 0.23). CONCLUSION: We identified a subgroup of the population with subclinical goitrous Hashimoto's disease and a smaller subgroup with subclinical autoimmune atrophic thyroiditis. This relationship between small and large thyroid volume in subclinical disease is opposite to that in overt disease, which may suggest that the period between development of a small volume with circulating autoantibodies and overt hypothyroidism is relatively short.
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Authors | Inge Bülow Pedersen, Peter Laurberg, Nils Knudsen, Torben Jørgensen, Hans Perrild, Lars Ovesen, Lone Banke Rasmussen |
Journal | Clinical endocrinology
(Clin Endocrinol (Oxf))
Vol. 62
Issue 6
Pg. 713-20
(Jun 2005)
ISSN: 0300-0664 [Print] England |
PMID | 15943834
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Autoantibodies
- Biomarkers
- Thyrotropin
- Thyroglobulin
- Iodide Peroxidase
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Aged
- Autoantibodies
(blood)
- Biomarkers
(blood)
- Female
- Humans
- Iodide Peroxidase
(immunology)
- Logistic Models
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Thyroglobulin
(immunology)
- Thyroid Gland
(pathology, physiopathology)
- Thyroiditis, Autoimmune
(immunology, pathology, physiopathology)
- Thyrotropin
(blood)
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