Table 4. Thyroid volume, echogenicity, and presence of nodules by gender in oldest-old individuals.
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal TSH | Increased TSH | P | Normal TSH | Increased TSH | P | |
| (n = 35) | (n = 19) | (n = 17) | (n = 10) | |||
| Thyroid volume (mL) – Mean ± SD | ||||||
| Total | 11.66 ± 3.40 | 12.86 ± 4.78 | 10.13 ± 3.90 | 8.24 ± 5.68 | 0.015a | |
| < 6 mL (n; %) | 0; 0.0% | 0; 0.0% | 8; 21.1% | 12; 44.4% | 0.082c | |
| > 20 mL (n; %) | 0; 0.0% | 0; 0.0% | 0; 0.0% | 1;3.7% | 0.415b | |
| Echogenicity – (n; %) | ||||||
| ECO1 | 10; 71.4% | 2; 100.0% | 20; 52.6% | 5; 18.5% | 0.001c | |
| ECO2 | 1; 7.1% | 0; 0.0% | 14; 36.8% | 9; 33.3% | ||
| ECO3 | 3; 21.4% | 0; 0.0% | 4; 10.5% | 13; 48.1% | ||
| Nodules – (n; %) | ||||||
| Yes | 8; 57.1% | 1; 50.0% | 29; 67.4% | 14; 32.6% | 0.074c | |
| No | 12; 34.3% | 12; 63.2% | 3; 17.6% | 3; 30% | ||
* Student’s t test; a Mann-Whitney test; b Fisher’s exact test; c Chi-square test.
ECO1: isoechoic (the echogenicity of the parenchyma was similar to that of the submandibular gland); ECO2: mildly hypoechoic (the parenchyma was hypoechoic compared with the submandibular gland, but hyperechoic in relation to the cervical muscles); ECO3: hypoechoic (the parenchyma was isoechoic or hypoechoic when compared with the cervical muscles).