Endocrine Abstracts

Normal thyroid size in women varies between populations, and depends on the age. The results of assessing the normal size of the thyroid gland in young healthy fertile women in Belarus population have not been published yet.

Materials and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. We studied 122 fertile women 18-44 years old without endocrine pathology who applied to the Minsk Clinical Consultative and Diagnostic Center in 2023. The aim of the study is to establish the normal size of the thyroid gland among healthy young women. 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 32.0±7.25 years, height was 166 (162-170) sm, weight was 64 (56-73) kg, BMI was 22.4 (19.2-24.7) kg/cm². TSH level was detected 2.15 (1.46 -3.04) µIU/ml, FT4 – 16.3 (15.2-18.8) pmol/l, ATPO -18.0 (11.8- 31.6) IU/ml. The average volume of the right lobe was 5.1±1.69 cm³, the left lobe of the thyroid gland was 5.5±1.86 cm³. The width of the isthmus was 2.5 (2.0-2.9) cm. Minimum registered total thyroid volume was 3.4 cm3, maximum registered total thyroid volume was 25, 2 cm³. The total thyroid volume was recorded 9.7 ±3.13 cm³. Frequency range 5-95% was detected 5.8-16.4 cm³.

Conclusion: The result of the study demonstrated the total thyroid volume was recorded 5.8-16.4 cm³ as normal in young healthy fertile women 18-44 years old without a history of endocrine diseases in the city of Minsk