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Goiter

Goiter

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Goiter
Abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland.*
  • We can broadly classify the morphology of goiter as smooth/diffuse or nodular.
Smooth/diffuse goiter* - the thyroid gland is more or less uniformly enlarged (we show the normal thyroid gland size with a dotted line): Graves' disease, Hashimoto thyroiditis, iodine deficiency, and TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas.
    • Recall that we can use radioactive iodine uptake tests (RIUT) to visualize thyroid hormone production in the gland – show that, in Graves' disease, the test shows diffuse, symmetrical "hot" areas of thyroid overproduction.
Nodules* - these are specific areas of the thyroid gland that are hypertrophic/hyperplastic: Toxic and non-toxic multinodular goiter (which we show here, with multiple nodules), thyroid adenoma (which is solitary), thyroid cancer, and thyroid cysts.
    • In a radioactive iodine uptake test, we would see several "hot" nodules throughout the thyroid in toxic multinodular goiter.

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