Introduction: The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of nicotine on thyroid volume according to patients’ sex.
Material and methods: A group of 160 patients with thyroid disorders in their past medical history was examined. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A contained 50 patients with goiter, where the volume of the thyroid was evaluated with use of US and ¹³¹I-SPECT; group B contained 50 patients with goiter, where the volume of the thyroid was evaluated with use of US and ^99mTc-SPECT. There were two control groups: Group A’ contained 30 patients with normal volume of the thyroid gland shown by US and ¹³¹I-SPECT, and group B’ contained 30 patients with normal volume of the thyroid gland shown by US and ^99mTc-SPECT. The patients from the examined and control groups were divided into two subgroups - smokers and non-smokers. US of the thyroid gland was made by means of an ALOKA SSD 500 device. SPECT was performed by means of a singke-headed gamma camera by Diacam.
Results: The average volume of thyroid gland measured by ¹³¹I-SPECT and ^99mTc-SPECT was significantly larger according to US in the examined and control groups in smokers and non-smokers. We did not show statistically significant correlations between levels of iodine uptake and volumes of goiter evaluated by US examination together with ¹³¹I scintigraphy.
Conclusions: Significant differences in average values of thyroid volume between smokers and non-smokers were not observed, which might suggest a lack of goitrogenic activity of tobacco smoke or indicates a potential goitrogenic influence not significant enough in the examined group.