The association between thyroid echogenicity and thyroid function in pediatric and adolescent Hashimoto's thyroiditis

In this study, we evaluated the association between thyroid echogenicity on ultrasonography (US) and thyroid function in pediatric and adolescent Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) patients. In 86 pediatric and adolescent HT patients, the association between echogenicity and thyroid function and microsomal autoantibody status was evaluated. Among patients with overt hypothyroidism, 89.2% (33/37) showed a US grade of 3 or 4. All of the patients at grade 4 presented with overt hypothyroidism. In contrast, 97.8% (44/49) of the patients with subclinical hypothyroidism or euthyroidism showed grades 1 or 2. Patients with increased thyroid-stimulating hormone titer also tended to have increased US grades (P < .001). In contrast, free thyroxine levels were significantly decreased with increasing US grade (P < .001). In conclusion, patients with higher US grades had decreased thyroid function (P < .001).