RESUMO
AIM: Of this study was to define the significance of approximate ultrasound explorations of the thyroid gland for the clinical screening for thyroid diseases. METHOD: 918 patients in the medical service of a general hospital were screened for thyroid diseases by means of clinical, functional and sonomorphological methods. A sonographic screening scan with a 5 MHz probe provided data concerning structure and dimension of thyroid gland. Maximal sagittal diameter (SDm, normal range < 18 mm) was taken as a measure for thyroid size. RESULTS: Echogenicity has no essential meaning for thyroid dysfunction screening, but is indispensable for the detection of circumscript or general echo deficiency. SDm has proved to be a simple and well reproducible measure for thyroid size. Among 41 patients with thyrotoxicosis 40 had enlarged SDm, which means a sensitivity of 97.6%. However, a high rate of false positives makes TSH-screening of all enlarged thyroid glands obligatory. Moreover, SDm allows the estimation of a lack of thyroid mass as the most common cause of hypothyroidism. CONCLUSION: We recommend that an approximate ultrasound exploration of the thyroid gland including measuring of SDm should be part of every diagnostic procedure for thyroid disease, as it is precise and not time consuming.