The predominant form of non-toxic goiter in Greece is now autoimmune thyroiditis.

Endemic non-toxic goiter (NTG) in Greece has been attributed primarily to iodine deficiency. Thirty years ago about 60% of the prepubertal boys and girls examined in endemic goiter regions presented with NTG and among them thyroid autoimmunity was rarely detected. Although iodine supplementation has corrected this deficiency during the past 30 years, new cases of NTG still appear.

Anterior, posterior, or laparoscopic approach for the management of adrenal diseases?

Background: At the advent of laparoscopic adrenalectomy it seemed timely to us to assess the advantages and the overall results of the different techniques that are currently used in an approach to adrenalectomy.

Patients And Methods: Between 1984 and 1995, 165 patients underwent adrenalectomy. Eighty-six patients (37 men and 49 women with a mean age of 46.

The effect of benziodarone on the thyroid hormone levels and the pituitary-thyroid axis.

The effect of benziodarone on the levels of thyroid hormones in the serum has not attracted interest, in spite of the prolific literature on the related drug amiodarone. It is shown here that benziodarone administration has several effects, mainly similar to amiodarone, but some possibly opposite and inappropriate. Nine normal volunteers received benziodarone, 100 mg three times daily for 14 days.

Treatment of endemic goitre with iodine and thyroid hormones, alone or in combination. (Preliminary report).

108 patients with endemic nontoxic goitre have been treated in the field with thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and potassium iodide (KI), singly or in combination, or with placebo. After 6 months of continuous treatment, goitre size decreased significantly in the 7 actively treated groups, but not in the one treated with placebo. The combination of 150 micrograms T4 + 150 micrograms KI daily seemed the most effective treatment, both clinically and by its suppression of the 131I uptake and the TSH response to TRH, followed by 100 micrograms T4 + 25 micrograms T3 or 200 micrograms T4, but the difference from the other groups was not statistically significant.

The correlation of serum amiodarone levels with abnormalities in the metabolism of thyroxine.

Amiodarone, a widely used iodine-containing antiarrhythmic drug, has been shown to divert the peripheral metabolism of T4 towards rT3 than T3. In this prospective study we correlated the concentration of the peripheral thyroid hormones in serum with that of amiodarone. Fifteen euthyroid volunteers were studied, 5 men and 10 women, with a mean age of 64.