[Study of the thyroid function in a representative sample of the population of 3 islands of the Eolian archipelago: Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea]

The thyroid function has been subject of study on a casual and significant sample consisting of 189 individuals living in Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea, the smallest of the inhabited islands in the Eolian archipelago. The prevalence of palpable thyroid (group 1) has resulted to be of 26.45% while the one of the visible goitre (group 2) has resulted of 5.29%. The T3 has resulted significantly lower, in the subjects with thyroid of group 2, than in the ones with thyroid of the group 0 or 1 (p less than 0.02). In the subject who are over sixty years old the circulating fT3 has resulted significantly lower and the T3 significantly more elevated than in the people who are in their twenties. Seven cases of thyrotoxicosis have been ascertained. These data show an unexpected frequency of hypertrofic thyroid in a population among which the jodic deficiency hasn't reason to be; the presence of thyrotoxicosis could be connected with the prevalence of the goitre.