Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Normal thyroid size varies across populations depending on age and gender. The results of assessing the normal size of the thyroid gland in young healthy men in Belarus population have not been published yet.

Materials and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. We studied 138 men 18-28 years old without endocrine pathology who applied to the Minsk City Clinical Endocrinology Center in 2023. The aim of the study is to establish the normal size of the thyroid gland among healthy young men. The study included patients with normal echogenicity of the thyroid gland, without increased thyroid blood flow, without a severe disturbance of the echostructure (cyst-like formations with a diameter of less than 5 mm were assessed as normal). Patients with cervical lymphadenopathy were excluded from the study. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the Statistica 10 program (StatSoft, USA).

Examination: thyroid ultrasound, TSH, FT4, ATPO, height, weight, BMI.

Results: Average age was 21.9±2.42 years, height was 180 (175-186) sm, weight was 78 (64-95) kg, BMI was 22.1 (19.6-24.4) kg/cm². TSH level was detected 3.14±1.01 µIU/ml, FT4 – 17.1 (14.9-20.1) pmol/l, ATPO -13.9 (7.3-22.1) IU/ml. The average volume of the right lobe was 5.45±2.13 cm³, the left lobe of the thyroid gland was 5.39±1.74 cm³. The width of the isthmus was 2.4 (2.1-2.7) cm. Minimum registered total thyroid volume was 4.1 cm³, maximum registered total thyroid volume was 25, 4 cm³. The total thyroid volume was recorded 10.7 (6.7-17.9) cm³.

Conclusion: As a result of the study, the total thyroid volume was recorded as 10.7 (6.7-17.9) cm³ in young healthy men 18-28 years old without a history of endocrine diseases in the city of Minsk.