ABSTRACT
Background:The thyroid gland is the fir st endocrine gland to get differentiated5and starts functioning as early as 11thweek2. The early diagnosis of potentially treatable thyroid diseases in the foetus frequently depends on the detection of abnormal growth of the foetal thyroid gland. Material And Methods:In the present study, 30 foetuses belonging to B. J. Medical College were dissected and classified as per their gestational age in weeks 12 -20 weeks, 21 -30 weeks and 31 -40 weeks. Then dimensions like (length, width, thickness), weight the foetal thyroid gland, Position of foetal thyroid gland from inferior pole to tracheal ring, position of superior pole of thyroid gland to laryngeal cartilage level and distance between superior poles to hyoid bone were measured. Result:The mean ± SD of all parameters like length, width and thickness of the lateral lobe and mean ± SD of length and width of isthmus of foetal thyroid gland were more in female foetuses than in male foetuses.The superior pole of lateral lobe of thyroid gland corresponds to upper half of thyroid cartilage in 18 out of 30 foetuses.The inferior pole of lateral lobe of thyroid gland corresponds to 3rd tracheal ring level in 17 out of 30 foetuses.Distance between superior pole and hyoid bone was more on the left side in both male and female foetuses.Conclusion:The knowledge of factors implicating gland position is very important in many specialisations from obstetricians to neonatal paediatricians, paediatric surgeons to anatomopathologists