Thyroid and Adrenal Glands

1.6. Clinical Correlations

• A goiter is a hypertrophied thyroid that results from the thyroid increasing in size in an attempt to produce more thyroxin in the absence of iodine (endemic colloid goiter).
• Enlarged goiter may occur in people who do not have iodine deficiency (idiopathic nontoxic colloid or exophthalmic goiter -Graves’s Disease).

• This disorder develops as result of autoimmunity in which antibodies against TSH receptor act to stimulate the thyroid in the absence of TSH with resultant development of hyperthyroidism.
• The antibodies developed are called TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin).
• The term myxoedema (accumulation of fluids in subcutaneous connective tissues) is applied to advanced hypothyroidism.

• It is characterized by swelling of the skin and subcutaneous tissues.
• It develops in patients with total lack of thyroid function.
• Hypothyroidism may also be caused by an autoimmune attack on the thyroid gland (Hashimoto’s disease or thyroiditis).
• Cretinism: Hypothyroid conditions during fetal development result in impairment of growth and brain functioning.
• The hypothyroidism may be due to iodide deficiency or to congenital defects, such as lack of TSH receptor..
• The result is a mentally retarded, dwarfed newborn.