Advanced Age and Mild Thyrotoxicosis are Associated with Nodular Goiter in Graves Disease
Journal Title: Turkish Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism - Year 2009, Vol 13, Issue 1
Abstract
Objective: The primary goal of this study is to evaluate predictors of nodular goiter in Graves Disease (GD). Materials and Methods: A total of 202 consecutive patients (mean age: 45; 145 female, 57 male) were enrolled. All patients were treated with antithyroid drugs as initial therapy. TSH, FT3, FT4, TRAb, ATPO, and ATG were measured. Radioactive iodine uptake and thyroid ultrasonography were performed, and thyroid volume and nodule diameter were assessed. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was performed on thyroid nodules ≥8mm. Results: Diffuse goiter was detected in 51% of patients. Solitary nodules were detected in 16%, and multi-nodular disease in 33%. Mean nodule diameter was 8.82 mm. Nodular disease was slightly more common in women (p=0.063). Patients with nodular GD were older (p=0.004), had lower levels of FT3 (p=0.016) and TRAB (p=0.002) when compared with subjects with diffuse GD. Age (OR:6.867) was the independent variable predicting nodular GD. Conclusion: Increased prevalence of nodules was associated with advanced age and milder thyrotoxicosis. Apoptosis of thyroid follicular cells due to excess iodine might interfere with nodule formation, and lead to diffuse goiter in severe thyrotoxicosis. Because of increased rate if malignancy in GD, comprehensive evaluation of thyroid nodules of any size is mandatory. Turk Jem 2009; 13: 1-4
Authors and Affiliations
Serkan Yener, Nergiz Bayrakçı, Barış Akıncı, Tevfik Demir, Ali Sevinç, Özhan Özdoğan, Tülay Canda, Abdurrahman Çömlekçi, Sena Yeşil
Is Ki-67 Index an Useful Labeling Marker for Invasion of Pituitary Adenomas?
The Ki-67 antigen is a protein expressed in cell nuclei throughout the entire cell cycle. It is related to the cell proliferation in a variety of pituitary tumors. Pituitary tumors are usually benign, but may be aggressi...
Ghrelin
Growth hormone secretagogues are synthetic peptidyl and non- peptidyl molecules that possess growth hormone releasing activity. Ghrelin is an endogenous natural ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor that ha...
hs-CRP for Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes: Problems in Daily Practice
Serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) have been found to be a strong predictor for increased cardiovascular disease risk associated with type 2 diabetes independent of traditional risk factors. How...
Advanced Age and Mild Thyrotoxicosis are Associated with Nodular Goiter in Graves Disease
Objective: The primary goal of this study is to evaluate predictors of nodular goiter in Graves Disease (GD). Materials and Methods: A total of 202 consecutive patients (mean age: 45; 145 female, 57 male) were enrolled....
Serum Prostate Specific Antigen Levels in Male Hypogonadism
It is known that prostate specific antigen (PSA) is strongly androgen dependent. However, little is known about the effects of gonadotropin treatments on the prostate and serum PSA levels in male hypogonadism. We have th...