Thyromegaly and iodine nutritional status in a tertiary care hospital in South India

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the iodine nutritional status in patients with goiter by measuring urinary iodine excretion. 2. To compare the iodine nutritional status with the thyroid function and correlate with the type of thyroid disease. STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred patients with goiter and one hundred euthyroid healthy non-goitrous volunteers were included in this study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: All patients had elevated urinary iodine suggesting excess iodine intake and absence of iodine deficiency. Complications known to be associated with excess iodine, viz., benign goiter (35%), iodine-induced hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis (34%), thyroiditis (16%) and cancer of thyroid (15%) have been observed in this study. Therefore, continued supplementation of edible salt fortified with iodine should be monitored carefully, and supplementation programs should be tailored to the particular region.