ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the role of thyroid ultrasound in children with autoimmune thyroiditis diagnosed either on cytopathology or by the presence of thyroid peroxidase antibodies. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Children presenting for the first time to the Thyroid Clinic at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences for the complaint of goiter over a two year period (January 2005-December 2006) were studied. SUBJECTS: 695 school children (244 boys and 451 girls) aged 5-18 year were studied. METHODS: Children were subjected to thyroid ultrasound, cytopathology, thyroid peroxidase antibody and thyroid function tests. RESULTS: Overall, 16% of goitrous children had hypoechogenicity on ultrasound, 15.2% had cytopathological evidence of thyroiditis, 10.6% had positive thyroid peroxidase antibodies and 25.2% had abnormal thyroid function tests. Subjects with hypoechogenicity had higher percentage of thyroiditis on cytopathology (41.4% vs. 10.3%; P<0.01), thyroid peroxidase antibody positivity (30.6% vs. 6.8%; P<0.01) and thyroid dysfunction (46.8% vs. 21.2%; P<0.01) than those with normal echogenicity. CONCLUSION: Thyroid USG has a useful, though limited, role in excluding thyroid disease in children. The sensitivity of echogenicity for the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis in children is less than that reported in adults.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Biopsy, Fine-Needle , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Goiter/epidemiology , Health Status Indicators , Humans , India , Iodide Peroxidase/immunology , Male , Prevalence , Thyroid Function Tests , Thyroid Gland/enzymology , Thyroiditis, Autoimmune/epidemiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: (1) To assess the height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of school children from Delhi and generate percentile charts as appropriate for age, gender and socio-economic status. (2) To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from low and upper socioeconomic status (LSES and USES respectively). DESIGN: Cross sectional evaluation of anthropometric parameters in Delhi school children (5-18 years) from different geographical zones. SETTING: Government schools (non-fee paying) and Private Schools (fee paying) in Delhi. SUBJECTS: 21485 children, 8840 (3566 boys, 5274 girls) from government schools and 12645 (6197 boys, 6448 girls) from private schools. Methods: Subjects underwent assessment of height and weight and calculation of BMI. Children were classified as normal, overweight and obese as per IOTF guidelines. Height, weight and BMI percentile charts specific for the socioeconomic status were generated using the LMS method. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was assessed and compared between the two socio-economic groups. RESULTS: A significant difference was noted in height, weight and BMI between LSES and USES. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in USES children was 16.75 % and 5.59 % in boys and 19.01 % and 5.03 % in girls respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant disparity in anthropometric parameters between children from USES and LSES, with a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in USES children.