[Effect of organized general preventive administration of iodized salt on struma incidence and ioduria in 11-16-year-old children in the Jena endemic area]. / Einfluss der organisierten allgemeinen Iodsalzprophylaxe auf die Strumafrequenz und Iodurie bei 11-16jährigen Kindern im Jenaer Endemiegebiet.

In 1988 and in 1991, i.e. two and five years after the introduction of a general iod salt supply (32 mg KJO2/kg salt) in our region, we investigated the frequency of goiters and the level of iodine excretion in urine in 504 and 336 school children of 11 to 16 years of age. In 1988 the assessment of goiter size was made by inspection and palpation according to the recommendation of WHO. 36% of the school children were found to have goiters of type I b or II. The average urine excretion of iodine amounted to 46.2 +/- 37.2 micrograms Iod/g creatinine (n = 353). In 1991 we selected school children with goiters by the same criteria and found frequency (34%) to be nearly unchanged compared to 1988. Furthermore we investigated these goiters with ultrasound and confirmed the diagnosis in 100 from 107 children. The average daily urine excretion of iodine was significantly higher in 1991 (57.7 +/- 24.8 micrograms/Iod/g creatinine, n = 328) than in 1988. However this value is below the level recommended by the WHO (minimum 75 micrograms Iod/g creatinine). Despite the increase of the iodine intake over the last years, the frequency of goiters in pubertal school children in the Jena region is endemic. This fact supports the demand for a general and sufficient iodine supply.

Treatment of juvenile goitre with levothyroxine, iodide or a combination of both: the value of ultrasound grey-scale analysis.

The effects of oral iodide, levothyroxine and of iodide and levothyroxine in combination were studied in three groups of 30 children, age 13-15 years, with euthyroid goitre. As endpoints of this study, we used thyroid volume reduction, thyroid hormones, thyrotropin and thyroid grey-scale histograms by computerized analysis. The three groups were well matched with respect to mean age, body weight and pretreatment thyroid volumes and thyroid hormones. Mean urinary iodide excretion before treatment was in the range of 30 micrograms/g creatinine, since the study was conducted in an iodine-deficient area. All three treatment regimens led to significant reductions in thyroid volume within one month. After six months on 100 micrograms of levothyroxine, thyroid volume had decreased from 14.1 +/- 4.2 ml to 8.3 +/- 2.6 ml (mean +/- SD); on 150 micrograms of iodide, from 18.5 +/- 6.2 ml to 8.8 +/- 2.7 ml; and on 100 micrograms of iodide plus 50 micrograms of levothyroxine, from 17.2 +/- 3.1 ml to 8.3 +/- 2.0 ml. When treatment was discontinued for three months, or the dosage reduced, thyroid volume increased again in the levothyroxine (to 11.3 +/- 2.5 ml) but not in the iodide group. Grey-scale values (by ultrasound, computer-aided estimation) after nine months were significantly different between the three treatment groups; no change was observed with levothyroxine, but after 150 micrograms of iodide as well as after combined treatment with levothyroxine and iodide there were marked decreases of grey-scale values; this is interpreted as reflecting a decrease in follicle size and colloid content of the thyroid which takes place after iodide supplementation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Interdisciplinary preventive use of iodine in former East Germany following reunification and the status of packaged iodized table salt for improving alimentary iodine supply. Retrospect and prospects]. / Die interdisziplinäre Jodprophylaxe der ehemaligen DDR nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung und der Stellenwert des jodierten Paket-Speisesalzes für die Verbesserung der alimentären Jodversorgung. Ein Rück- und Ausblick.

The general interdisciplinary iodine prophylaxis which began in the former GDR in 1985/86 led to the amelioration of the alimentary supply with iodine and to success which was taken notice of also internationally. The amelioration of the supply with iodine was above all derived from the use of iodized mineral mixtures in animal production. According to the analyses performed up to 1990 the state of development could be maintained for the time being. With the German reunification the general iodine prophylaxis was deprived of its legal fundament and with the reorganization of agriculture the expanding use of iodized mineral mixtures was no more guaranteed. Respecting the principle of voluntariness the application of iodized kitchen salt is to be propagandized above all in children, adolescents and pregnant women and the use in big kitchens, restaurants and in the foodstuff industry.

[Value of sonographic representation of the portal artery in clinical practice]. / Stellenwert der sonographischen Pfortaderdarstellung in der klinischen Praxis.

While in chronic liver diseases we up to now above all depended on laparoscopic indices of the hypertension of the portal vein, also the non-invasive sonography is able to prove an adequate morphological substrate in form of the dilated splenic vein and the portal vein. A comparative study of 50 patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent laparoscopy shows significantly higher values in patients with clear portal hypertension. Provided a correct valuation of the findings by the clinical and a subtle examination technique, the non-invasive sonographic estimation of the portal vein represents a prognostically important diagnostic contribution in patients with chronic liver diseases.

[A simple apparatus to check ventilation and respiration (author's transl)]. / Ein einfaches Gerät zur Uberwachung von Beatmung und Spontanatmung.

A simple device is described which gives visible and audible warning of interruption of ventilation, whether artificial or spontaneous. A thermistor is incorporated in an adaptor placed between the Y-piece and the endotracheal tube. It responds to a change in temperature before the tube via an electronic system that makes two small green bulbs glow. The sound signal is given 6 seconds after the last optical signal of the bulbs.