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PubMed2002

Concentration of selenium in the whole blood and the thyroid tissue of patients with various thyroid diseases.

We investigated the possible differences between the concentrations of selenium in the whole blood and thyroid tissue of patients with thyroid disease. The study comprises 41 women with nodular goiter, 19 women and 2 men with thyroid cancer, 18 women with Graves' disease, and 7 women with thyroiditis. The concentration of selenium was determined by the TRXRF method. The lowest mean selenium level was achieved in the whole blood of women with Graves' disease and the highest in the whole blood of healthy people. In the thyroid cancer tissue, we found the lowest concentration of selenium and the highest in the thyroid gland of women with nodular goiter and Graves' disease. The low selenium levels in the thyroid tissue may increase thyroid cancer risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Clinical studies on thyroid CT number in chronic thyroiditis.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate by a computed tomography (CT) thyroid CT number (Hounsfield units; H.U.) in chronic thyroiditis (CH). The correlation of the CT value with the concentration of KI solution in the test tube of thyroid phantom for thyroid scintigram was linear. No significant correlation between thyroid CT number and the urinary iodine concentration was also observed in 36 patients with CH. A mean thyroid CT number (+/- SD) of 81 +/- 24 H.U. in 155 patients with CH was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than 125 +/- 18 H.U. in 95 normal subjects. The patients with CH could be arbitrarily divided into 3 groups according to the decrease in their thyroid CT number: normal (N) group (> or = 88 H.U.), moderately decreased (MD) group (70-87 H.U.) and the greately decreased (GD) group (< 70 H.U.). There was a significant difference in the thyroid volume among 21.2 +/- 9.1 cm3 in the N group, 32.2 +/- 18.1 in the MD group (P < 0.05 vs. N group) and 43.6 +/- 23.3 in the GD group (P < 0.01 vs. N and MD group). The mean serum TSH concentration of 38.95 +/- 54.61 microU/ml in the SD group was significantly (P < 0.1) higher than either 4.11 +/- 3.64 in the MD group or 2.00 +/- 1.43 in the N group. The serum TSH level in the MD group differed significantly (P < 0.05) from that of the N group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Occult papillary thyroid carcinoma in Hashimoto's thyroiditis presenting as a metastatic bone tumor.

Some occult thyroid carcinomas are hypothesized to regress and be eventually obliterated. We report here a patient whose condition supports this hypothesis. A 51-year-old male with primary hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis suffered from a rib bone tumor. He had a diffuse goiter with no nodular lesion. Serum FT4 and TSH concentrations were 0.8 ng/dl and 36.4 microU/ml on taking 100 microg/day of T4. Anti-Tg- and -TPO-Ab were strongly positive (99 and 1380 U/ml). The iodine 123 scintigraphy demonstrated clear accumulation in the rib tumor, whereas the thyroid was scarcely visible. Biopsy of the rib tumor showed papillary proliferation of large atypical cells, which were immunohistochemically positive for thyroglobulin. Metastatic bone tumor of papillary thyroid carcinoma was therefore strongly suspected. He underwent a total thyroidectomy and the thyroid was stepwise sectioned completely at 3 mm intervals. The thyroid condition was diagnosed as Hashimoto's thyroiditis demonstrating diffuse and dense fibrosis, lymphocyte infiltration with lymphoid follicles and flattened atrophied follicles, but no carcinomatous foci were found. He was treated with I-131 and scintigraphy after the ingestion showed distinct accumulation in the rib tumors similar to that before thyroidectomy. No other abnormal uptake was observed. It is suggested that the primary occult thyroid papillary carcinoma regressed and was obliterated possibly by some immunologic or other host-resistance factors after it metastasized to the distant bone.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed2005

Effects of prophylactic thyroid hormone replacement in euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is the most frequent autoimmune thyroid disease. L-thyroxine therapy can reduce the incidence and alleviate the symptoms of this disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of prophylactic L-thyroxine treatment on clinical and laboratory findings of patients who were euthyroid at the time of diagnosis. Thirty-three patients who had diagnosis of euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis were randomized to two groups, one group received prophylactic L-thyroxine treatment and the other was followed-up without treatment. Initial thyroid function tests, autoantibodies, ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration biopsy and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were similar in the two study groups. After 15 months of L-thyroxine treatment, there was a significant increase in free T4 and a significant decrease in TSH and anti-thyroglobulin antibody anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody levels. CD8+ cell counts increased in both groups, CD4/CD8 levels decreased significantly because of the increase in CD8+ cell count levels. Though there was no change in cytological findings, ultrasonography showed a decrease in thyroid volume in L-thyroxine receiving patients whereas an increase was detected in patients who were followed without treatment. In conclusion, prophylactic thyroid hormone therapy can be used in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis even if they are euthyroid.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

A sensitive method for assaying thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins of Graves' disease: use of the guanyl nucleotide-amplified thyroid adenylate cyclase assay.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a sensitive method for evaluating adenylate cyclase stimulation by thyroid-stimulating antibodies (TSAb), based on the measurement of thyroid membrane adenylate cyclase activity in the presence of a non-hydrolyzable GTP analogue, guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p). The addition of Gpp(NH)p (10(-5)M) produced a 10-fold increase of the sensitivity of the system for both TSH and TSAb. Immunoglobulin G preparations from sera of 30 patients with Graves' disease were tested for the adenylate cyclase stimulation either in the presence or in the absence of Gpp(NH)p: a significant stimulation was observed in 27/30 patients when the GTP analogue was added to the system, while only 20/30 patients were positive in the absence of the nucleotide. The advantage of Gpp(NH)p addition was also evident in a large series which included 57 patients with Graves' disease, 15 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or primary myxoedema and 22 normal subjects. In fact, 88% of patients with Graves' disease resulted positive, while no significant stimulation was elicited by Hashimoto's thyroiditis, primary myxoedema and by normal immunoglobulins. The sensitivity achieved in our system which employs thyroid plasma membranes was similar to that obtained by other investigators with the use of thyroid slices or thyroid cells in primary culture. Furthermore, methods based on thyroid plasma membranes are supposed to have a better reproducibility, since the same tissue preparation, if appropriately stored, may be used in several different tests.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1990

Thyroid sonography in autoimmune thyroiditis. A prospective study on 123 patients.

Thyroid sonography was used to assess 2322 patients attending our clinic over a 3-year period. Sonography, in combination with clinical and laboratory findings, enabled us to detect autoimmune thyroiditis in 123 patients, 67 of whom could be classified as euthyroid, 17 as latent hypothyroid, and 39 as overtly hypothyroid. Consequently without the use of sonography (or thyroid antibody measurements) it would not have been possible to make a diagnosis in over half of our patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. Sonography was also of considerable value in establishing the absence of autoimmune thyroiditis as out of the 2322 patients we examined, autoimmune thyroiditis could be excluded on the basis of sonography alone (absence of diffuse hypoechoicity) in 1962 (84%). Thyroid volume ranged from less than 5 to 112 ml with the majority of patients having a volume of 21-30 ml and the overtly hypothyroid group showing a shift to smaller volumes. The data suggested that thyroid volume changes over the range of the disease from euthyroid to overtly hypothyroid.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Increased thyroid volume and prevalence of thyroid disorders in an area heavily polluted by polychlorinated biphenyls.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether long-term exposure to heavy environmental pollution with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) could result in impairment of thyroid status as evaluated by an epidemiological field survey. METHODS: Thyroid volume (ThV) was measured by ultrasound in 238 employees of a factory (EMP) which previously produced PCBs and 454 adolescents from the surrounding area polluted by PCBs. Controls (C) were 572 adults and 965 adolescents from much less polluted areas. In the 238 EMP and various numbers (shown in parentheses) of adult C the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (n = 498), thyroxine (n = 498), thyroglobulin (n = 278) and thyroid antibodies (anti-peroxidase (TPO Ab), n= 517; anti-thyroglobulin (Tg Ab), n=455; anti-TSH receptor (TSHR Ab), n=238) were estimated in serum, while only TSH and TPO Ab were measured in 269 and 171 adolescents from polluted and control areas respectively. In several subjects in whom thyroid disease was suspected, total tri-iodothyronine or free thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine were measured. In a total of 362 adults and adolescents the urinary iodine was estimated. RESULTS: Using the Mann-Whitney test, ThV in EMP (mean+/-S.E. = 18.85+/-0.69 ml, median= 17.3 ml, upper quartile=22.9 ml, n=238) was significantly higher (P< 0.001) than that in C (13.47+/-0.48 ml, 11.5 ml, 15.3 ml, n = 486 respectively). Similarly, ThV in adolescents from the polluted area (9.37+/-0.17 ml, 8.9 ml, 11.0 ml, n = 454 respectively) was significantly higher (P< 0.001) than that in C (8.07+/-0.10 ml, 7.6 ml, 9.6 ml, n = 965 respectively). In adults, a significantly increased prevalence of TPO Ab (P<0.05) was found (using the chi-square test) in EMP women of all ages (54/190) vs C women (70/282), in EMP women aged 31-50 years (40/117 vs 70/282 respectively) and those aged 41- 50 years (28/77 vs 54/215 respectively). Compared with C, there was also a higher prevalence of Tg Ab in EMP women aged 31-60 years (36/169 vs 50/342 respectively) and of TSHR Ab (P< 0.001) in the group of EMP men and women (25/238) vs sex- and age-matched C (6/238). No difference between EMP and C was found in the level of thyroxine (mean+/-S.D = 116.1+/-31.2 nmol/l, n = 238 vs 112.2+/-37.0 nmol/l, n = 460 respectively), TSH in the range 0.1-4.5 mU/l(1.56+/-0.86 mUl/l, n = 219 vs 1.51+/-0.84 mU/l, n = 460 respectively), prevalence of TSH >4.5 (14/238 vs 28/498 respectively) and <0.1 mU/l(5/238 vs 10/498 respectively). The prevalence of individuals without any defined clinical or laboratory signs of thyroid disorders among EMP who had worked in the factory for 21-35 years (43/128, 33.6%) was significantly lower than that in twice as many matched C (118/256, 46.1%, P< 0.025) or in EMP who had worked for only 11-20 years (36/73, 49.3%, P< 0.05). In adolescents, no difference was found in the prevalence of TPO Ab or TSH >4.5 mU/l between the polluted (17/269, 6.3%, and 2/243, 0.8% respectively) and C areas (15/171, 8.5% and 4/140, 2.8% respectively). The median values of urinary iodine were in the optimal range (microg per dl/number of cases) and about the same in polluted (12.6/90 and 11.4/55) and C areas (14.1/80, 13.2/82 and 13.4/55). CONCLUSIONS: Since iodine intake in Slovakia is considered sufficient as a result of 45 years of well-monitored iodine prophylaxis, the increased ThVand prevalence of thyroid disorders in the polluted areas presumably results from long-term exposure to toxic substances rather than from a difference in life-long iodine intake. The increased prevalence of some thyroid antibodies may be related to the known immunomodulatory effects of PCBs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Post-Chornobyl thyroid cancers in Ukraine. Report 1: estimation of thyroid doses.

About 1.8 EBq of 131I was released into the atmosphere during the Chornobyl accident that occurred in Ukraine on April 26, 1986. More than 10% of this activity was deposited on the territory of Ukraine. Beginning 4-5 years after the accident, an increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among children, believed to be caused in part by exposure to 131I, has been observed in different regions of Ukraine. A three-level system of thyroid dose estimation was developed for the reconstruction of thyroid doses from 131I for the entire population of Ukrainian children aged 1 to 18 at the time of accident: (1) At the first level, individual doses were estimated for the approximately 99,000 children and adolescents with direct measurements of radioactivity in the thyroid (so-called direct thyroid measurements) performed in May-June of 1986; (2) at the second level, group doses by year of age and by gender were estimated for the population of 748 localities (with 208,400 children aged 1-18 in 1986) where direct thyroid measurements of good quality were performed on some of the residents; and (3) at the third level, group doses by age and by gender were estimated for the population of the localities where no thyroid measurements were made in 1986. The third-level doses were then aggregated over the population of each oblast. Data, models and procedures required for each level of thyroid dose estimation are described in the paper. At the first level, individual doses were found to range up to 27,000 mGy, with geometric and arithmetic means of 100 and 300 mGy, respectively. At the second level, group doses were found to be highest for the younger children (aged 1 to 4 years); doses for the older children (aged 16 to 18 years) were 3.5 times smaller. At the third level, average population-weighted doses were found to exceed 35 mGy in the five northern oblasts closer to the Chornobyl reactor site; to be in the 14- to 34-mGy range in seven other oblasts, Kyiv city and Crimea; and to be less than 13 mGy in all other oblasts.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Simple, rapid thyroid function testing with 99mTc-pertechnetate thyroid uptake ratio and neck/thigh ratio.

To avoid the technical difficulties and errors inherent in the measurement of early thyroid uptake of 99mTcO4-,techniques which are independent of absolute uptake, neck extrathyroidal background and dose standards were evaluated in a series of 108 patients. After intravenous injection of 2 mCi 99mTcO4-, radioactivity was recorded over the neck and thigh. Thyroid uptake ratios were calculated as the ratios of activity over the neck at two times. A neck/thigh ratio was calculated from the recorded activities at 15 min after injection. Examination of these parameters showed that a combination of the 15 min neck/thigh ratio and the 10'/2' thyroid uptake ratio best served to discriminate thyroid function: 92% of hyperthyroid cases were correctly identified by a neck/thigh ratio above 4.7 and 95% of hypothyroid cases were identified by the combination of a neck/thigh ratio below 3 and a 10'/2' thyroid uptake ratio below 1. Correct classification of euthyroidism was 84% but with the exclusion of patients previously treated with 131I, this rose to 91%. The accuracy of the 99mTc procedure is comparable to that of the standard 24 hr 131I uptake run concurrently in this series and duplicates the accuracy of computer assisted determinations of absolute thyroid 99mTcO4- uptakes. The procedure provides a convenient method for the evaluation of thyroid function as an accompaniment to 99mTcO4- thyroid imaging.

Humans↗
PubMed1996

The effect of soluble complement receptor 1 (sCR1) and human thyroid antibodies on the course of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in rats.

Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT), induced by immunisation of rats with thyroid extract and complete Freund's adjuvant, has been used as a model to study the effects of complement inhibition mediated by soluble complement receptor 1 (sCR1) administration during the initial phase of the disease. There was no effect of sCR1 on the severity of thyroiditis at day 28 after immunisation or on the levels of thyroid antibodies, whether sCR1 was given during the first or second week after immunisation. Human IgG containing high levels of thyroid peroxidase antibodies given to rats at the time of immunisation caused significant worsening of thyroiditis severity (P < 0.01 compared to animals receiving normal IgG) but sCR1 again had no effect in this variant of the EAT model. The results indicate that complement does not play a major role in the initial phase of tissue injury in EAT and complement inhibition does not impair the generation of an autoimmune response against the thyroid, although it remains possible that complement activation is important during the chronic phase of disease maintenance in human autoimmune thyroid disease.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Role of thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin in aggressiveness of well-differentiated thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a relationship exists between thyroid-stimulating antibodies and increased aggressiveness of thyroid cancer. METHODS: We analyzed clinical, histologic, and biochemical data, including thyroid-stimulating antibodies, from 26 patients (24 women and 2 men) who had had well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma for 1 to 5 years and had undergone total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine ablative therapy. For analysis, the overall study cohort was divided into two groups: group 1 (N = 16), with stable disease and no evidence of metastatic activity, and group 2 (N = 10), with aggressive disease and substantiated metastatic involvement. RESULTS: The thyroid-stimulating antibodies ranged from 92 to 129% in group 1 and from 95 to 118% in group 2. Thus, both study groups had thyroid-stimulating antibody levels within the normal range (normal, <130%). CONCLUSIONS: Apparently, thyroid-stimulating antibodies had no contributory role in the growth of the metastatic lesions in the 10 patients with aggressive disease. Further studies should be undertaken to investigate other potential factors involved in stimulating the progression of thyroid cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Binding of thyroid microsomes by lymphocytes from patients with thyroid disease and normal subjects.

Lymphocytes that could bind 125I-labelled thyroid microsomal membranes (ABL) were present in the peripheral blood of patients with various types of thyroid disease as well as in normal healthy subjects. In patients with anti-thyroid cytoplasmic antibodies the number of ABL was about three times normal (11-21 +/- 0-60 compared with 3-26 +/- 0-18 per 10(4) lymphocytes). In contrast, in patients with thyroid disease without anti-thyroid cytoplasmic antibodies, the number of antigen-binding lymphocytes was not significantly greater than in the normal controls (3-94 +/- 0.14 per 10(4) lymphocytes). The binding of thyroid microsomes by antigen-binding lymphocytes could be blocked by thyroid microsomes but not by thyroid mitochondrial membranes, thyroglobulin or liver microsomes.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic role of markers dipeptidyl peptidase IV and thyroid peroxidase in thyroid tumors.

BACKGROUND: In seeking to improve the differential diagnosis between malignant and benign thyroid tumors of follicular cell origin, we assessed the expression of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO). DPP IV is a membrane peptidase expressed in many human tissues, excluding the normal thyroid gland. However, aberrant expression has been described in thyroid carcinomas. TPO is an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones with various types of expression in pathological thyroid lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 151 thyroid glands were examined: 24 malignant tumors, 29 benign tumors, 98 benign lesions and 5 normal glands. DPP IV expression was analyzed by a histochemical technique in both frozen sections and imprint/aspirate smears. TPO was assessed immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded specimens. RESULTS: DPP IV sensitivity in frozen section was 56% and its specificity was 99%, in both cases with a 50% threshold. In cytology, the sensitivity was 68% and the specificity was 98% using the 50% threshold. TPO sensitivity and specificity was 64% and 99%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of both markers was 92% and 94%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We recommend adding DPP IV and TPO to the list of diagnostic tumor markers for malignant thyroid tumors of follicular cell origin.

Adenoma↗
PubMed2003

[Development of severe aplastic anemia in a girl with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and papillary thyroid carcinoma].

A 14-year-old girl was admitted because of general fatigue and cervical lymphadenopathy. She showed bilateral struma (IInd degree) and enlargement of her left cervical lymph nodes. Laboratory data revealed neutropenia (219/microliter) and thrombocytopenia (Plt 5.1 x 10(4)/microliter) with mild anemia (Hb 11.1 g/dl), and the bone marrow aspirate and biopsy specimens showed hypocellularity. In addition, auto-antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (TG) were highly elevated. Computed tomography of the neck showed a nodule in the left thyroid lobe with marked lymphadenopathy, and fine needle aspiration biopsy demonstrated papillary thyroid carcinoma with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and metastasis to the lymph nodes. One month after left thyroid lobectomy and cervical lymphadenectomy, the patient's condition progressed to very severe aplastic anemia, and she received immunosuppressive therapy consisting of cyclosporin A and anti-thymocyte globulin. Hematologically, partial and complete responses were obtained three and six months later, respectively. Of interest, anti-TPO and TG antibody titers remarkably decreased after immunosuppressive therapy. The patient had HLA-DR 2(DRB 1*1501) and DR 8(DRB 1*0802). The former is frequently found in patients with cyclosporin A-dependent aplastic anemia, and the latter is frequently found in Asian patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, suggesting an underlying autoimmune background for the simultaneous outbreak of aplastic anemia and Hashimoto's thyroiditis complicated by thyroid carcinoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Intrathyroidal T cell activation and HLA-DR antigen expression on thyroid follicular cells in autoimmune thyroid diseases].

Thyroid specimens from 19 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), 11 with Graves' disease (GD), 4 with nontoxic goiter (NTG), 1 with subacute thyroiditis (SAT), 1 with thyroid adenoma and 4 from normal thyroids were investigated by alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) immunocytochemical technique. A group of monoclonal antibodies against the corresponding T cell activation antigens were used. The positive rates of all the four activation antigens in thyroid gland mononuclear cells (TG-MNC) were significantly higher in HT than in NTG (P less than 0.05-0.01). However, the differences between HT and GD were insignificant (P greater than 0.05) except for HLA-DR antigen. The activation antigen-positive (especially TLiSA 1+) TG-MNC were often seen intruding into thyroid lumens of HT. All the abnormal specimens expressed HLA-DR antigens on thyroid follicular cells (TFC) in different degrees (+/- to +3), and the degree in HT was significantly higher than that in GD (P less than 0.01) or NTG (P less than 0.05). The level of DR expression on TFC correlated significantly with the infiltrating degrees of T-activation-antigen-positive cells (P less than 0.01). This indicates that aberrant DR expression in vivo is closely related to the activation of intrathyroidal T cells.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Usefulness of 99mTc-pertechnetate scintigraphy and fine-needle aspiration cytology in patients with solitary thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology and thyroid scintigraphy (TS) in patients with solitary thyroid nodules. We retrospectively reviewed a series of 657 consecutive patients (531 (80.8%) women and 126 (19.2%) men, median age 45 years, range 16-81 years) with solitary thyroid nodules. Prior to surgery, all patients underwent FNA cytology whilst 99mTc-pertechnetate TS was performed in 496 (75.5%) patients. Final histopathology showed 533 (81.1%) benign nodules, including 251 (38.2%) follicular adenomas and 124 (18.9%) thyroid carcinomas. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy in the detection of thyroid cancer were 95.8%, 21.1%, 22.6%, 95.5% and 35.7% for TS, and 81.4%, 99.4%, 97.1%, 95.8% and 96.0% for FNA cytology. The presence of thyroid cancer was confirmed in 92 out of 407 (22.6%) patients with a "cold" nodule, in 4 (4.5%) patients who had normal or increased uptake on TS, in 101 out of 104 (97.1%) patients with smears suggesting malignancy, and in 3 out of 533 (0.6%) smears suggesting benign lesions. In conclusion, the specificity of TS is low and this technique should be abandoned as a routine test in patients with nontoxic thyroid nodules. However, a more careful evaluation should be suggested for patients with cold thyroid nodules and a FNA cytology that reads follicular neoplasm.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Thyroid hormone binding protein abnormalities in patients referred for thyroid disorders.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Thyroid hormone binding protein (THBP) abnormalities are the major cause of discordance in commonly performed total thyroxine (T4) and thyrotropin (TSH) estimations, though these do not interfere with thyroid hormone action. Determination of such abnormalities in patients showing discordant thyroid function tests (TFTs) is diagnostically important as it eliminates equivocal assessment of thyroid function and treatment especially where proper methodology for free T4 (FT4) estimation is not available. This study was undertaken to analyse the THBP abnormalities in the population attending thyroid clinic. Family members of affected patients were also screened to study the inheritance of quantitative TBG abnormalities. METHODS: Blood samples of 15000 consecutive patients over a period of 4 years (1994-1997) were tested for thyroid function. THBP abnormalities were studied using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis autoradiography. Serum thyroxine binding globulin (TBG), free and total T4, total tri-iodothyronine (TT3) were assayed by radioimmunoassay methods. RESULTS: In our screening of 15,000 thyroid patients over a four year period, we found the presence of complete and partial TBG deficiency and TBG excess to be 1:2,500, 1:200 and 1:15,000 respectively. Our study on the families of three affected patients revealed X-chromosome linked inheritance pattern of TBG deficiency in two families and TBG excess in one family. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that it would be beneficial to rule out THBP abnormalities before interpreting results of TFTs, particularly when there is large discrepancy between T4 and TSH levels. In case of inherited THBP abnormalities, the family members of the affected individual should also be screened to avoid misdiagnosis and erroneous treatment in case they develop thyroid dysfunction in future.

Autoradiography↗
PubMed2004

Thyroid papillary carcinoma in subhyoid ectopic thyroid tissue.

Ectopic thyroid tissue is a rare entity in thyroidology; however, the occurrence of thyroid carcinoma in such aberrant thyroid tissue has been reported. Carcinoma arising in subhyoid thyroid is especially unusual, with even fewer reports published. Usually, surgical excision is considered to be therapeutic strategy for managing possible malignancy in ectopic thyroid. Thyroid ultrasonography, radioactive iodine scanning, and fine-needle aspiration cytology are rapid, safe, and minimally invasive diagnostic procedures. We report one case of papillary carcinoma in subhyoid ectopic thyroid to emphasise the importance to evaluate all ectopic thyroid tissues.

Carcinoma, Papillary↗