ObsectIve: chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (At) is the most common cause of thyroid disease in children. the aim of the study was to define the epidemiological clinical and laboratory characteristics of children and adolescents with At. DesIGN: various parameters including thyroid ultrasonography of 228 children and adolescents aged 10.2±2.5yrs (mean±sD) with At, who attended our Pediatric endocrine Unit during a 5-year period were retrospectively analysed. resULts: 191 (83.8%) were female and 142 (62.3%) were pubertal. At At diagnosis, 130 children (57.0%) were euthyroid, 75 (32.9%) had subclinical hypothyroidism, 19 (8.3%) had hypothyroidism and 4 (1.8%) had hyperthyroidism. there was a positive correlation between thyroid stimulating hormone (tsH) levels and thyroid volume sDs (r=0.15, p=0.02). sixtythree children (28%) had a goiter and 32 (14%) had thyroid nodules. three children (1.3%) had papillary thyroid carcinoma. compared to euthyroid children, children with hypothyroidism were younger (9.2±1.8 vs 10.6±2.4yrs, p<0.05) and had higher thyroid volume sDs (3.1±1.9 vs 1.2±1.2, p<0.05) and higher prevalence of goiter [11(57.9%) vs 29(22.3%), p<0.05]. cONcLUsIONs: children and adolescents with At are mostly asymptomatic; the majority are female, pubertal and euthyroid. Hypothyroid children with At have higher thyroid volume, higher prevalence of goiter and higher antithyroid antibodies titers compared to euthyroid children. Diagnosing At at an early stage offers the opportunity for a timely intervention. the potential association of At with papillary thyroid carcinoma is an additional reason for a careful follow-up of the patients with At.

It is likely that this mutation causes FMTC, as no other mutation was found in the RET gene, the mutation co-segregates with FMTC, and family members without the mutation are clinically unaffected. As the same point mutation was previously found in a large Brazilian family, it may be present in other populations as well. Therefore, exon 8 of RET should be screened in FMTC families with no identified common RET mutations.

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Background/Aims: Treatment with thyroxine in children with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) is controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate, by using thyroid ultrasonography, whether thyroxine influences thyroid volume in non-goitrous euthyroid children with AT. Methods: We studied 50 euthyroid non-goitrous children and adolescents with AT for 2 years by thyroid function tests and ultrasonography; 25 were randomized to receive thyroxine and 25 did not receive treatment. Median (IQR) age was 12.1 (11.1–13.2) years. Results: At baseline there was no difference in thyroid volume SDS between the two groups (treatment group 1.1 (0.7–1.5) and controls 0.9 (0.4–1.4), respectively). After 2 years the treatment group had lower thyroid volume SDS compared to the controls (0.6 (0.3–1.0) vs. 2.0 (1.1–2.3), p = 0.001). One child of the treatment group and 12 of the control group developed goiter. Two control children developed subclinical hypothyroidism. Within the treatment group, thyroid volume SDS was lower after 2 years of treatment (p = 0.002). Within the control group, thyroid volume SDS and TSH levels increased after 2 years of follow-up (p = 0.016, 1.9 (1.5–2.8) vs. 3.2 (2.4–4.4) mIU/ml, p = 0.006, respectively). Conclusions: Treatment with thyroxine reduces thyroid volume in non-goitrous euthyroid children with AT and may prevent goiter development.

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