Assesment of Iodine Deficiency in Patients with Nodular Goiter Living in the Precarpatian Region

Abstract

The objective of the research was to assess the state of iodine supply of patients with nodular goiter living in the Precarpathian region.

Materials and methods: 56 patients with nodular goiter were examined (38 women and 18 men), the average age of patients was 48 years. WHO / UNICEF / ICCIDD guidelines were used to assess the severity of iodine deficiency: goiter frequency according to palpation and ultrasound examinations, median of iodine excretion in urine, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroglobulin levels. Determination of iodine concentration in urine was conducted by the method of “blind”, closed randomized study in single portions of urine according to the Sandell-Kolthoff reaction by the method of Dunn et al. in the laboratory of epidemiology of endocrine diseases at  the State Institution “V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism” (supervisor – Professor VI Kravchenko).

Results. According to the results of the study of iodine in the urine, the data with an average value of 85.9 μg/l were obtained. The median of thyroglobulin serum was in the range of 12.27 ng/L. Levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone were average in patients with nodular goiter of I and II grades constituting 3.13 mU/l (table 2). The level of thyroglobulin median was noted to be the highest in patients with thyroid size corresponding to grade II.

Conclusions. The results of the study of iodine in the urine of patients with nodular goiter of grades I and II living in the Precarpathian region indicated a mild level of iodine deficiency. The presence of iodine deficiency necessitated both mass (the use of iodized salt by the population) and individual iodine prevention (prescribing potassium iodide).