Associations Between Thyroid Volume and Physical Growth in Pubertal Girls: Thyroid Volume Indexes Need to Be Applied to Thyroid Volume Assessments

Yingying Wang; Xiaolian Dong; Chaowei Fu; Meifang Su; Feng Jiang; Dongli Xu; Rui Li; Peixin Huang; Na Wang; Yue Chen; Qingwu Jiang

doi:10.3389/fendo.2021.662543

Associations Between Thyroid Volume and Physical Growth in Pubertal Girls: Thyroid Volume Indexes Need to Be Applied to Thyroid Volume Assessments

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 May 19:12:662543. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.662543. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yingying Wang^{1

2}, Xiaolian Dong³, Chaowei Fu^{1

2}, Meifang Su⁴, Feng Jiang^{1

2}, Dongli Xu⁵, Rui Li^{1

2}, Peixin Huang⁶, Na Wang^{1

2}, Yue Chen⁷, Qingwu Jiang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, Deqing County Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, Yuhuan City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Taizhou, China.
⁵ Department of Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, Minhang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Department of Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, Haimen City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nantong, China.
⁷ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Thyroid volume (Tvol) is associated with many factors, but the current reference values for Tvol in children with sufficient iodine intake are inappropriate and need to be updated. Moderate changes in thyroid morphology and accentuated increases in body fat percentage occur during puberty as an adaption of the body and sexual development occurs. This study aimed to evaluate the influences of physical growth on Tvol and propose an easily applicable method for conducting Tvol assessments in pubertal girls with sufficient iodine intake.Methods: A cohort study was conducted on 481 pubertal girls in East China from 2017 to 2019. B-ultrasound was used to assess Tvol. Multiple linear regression models were used to estimate the associations of Tvol enlargement (dTvol) with changes in height (dH), weight (dW), waist circumference (dW), body mass index (dBMI), and body surface area (dBSA). Thyroid volume indexes (TVIs), including height thyroid volume index (HVI), weight and height thyroid volume index (WHVI), body mass index thyroid index (BMIV), and body surface area thyroid index (BSAV), were calculated to explore an appropriate method for Tvol assessments by Spearman correlation analyses.

Results: Tvol, height, weight, BMI, and BSA increased significantly from baseline to follow-up (P<0.001). The associations between dTvol and physical growth were only observed in the 13 to 14-year-old group. dH, dW,dBMI, and dBSA were positively related to dTvol, with the maximum β of 5.74 (95%CI: 2.54 to 8.94) on dBSA, while dWC was negatively related to dTvol (β= -0.05, 95%CI: -0.08 to -0.03). Both dHVI and dBSAV were not associated with dH, dW, dBMI, or dBSA in both age groups (P>0.05).

Conclusions: Thyroid volume was associated with physical growth in pubertal girls in East China, both age and anthropometric measurements must be comprehensively considered to establish the reference values for Tvol. HVI, and BSAV may be better indicators for Tvol assessments in pubertal girls.

Keywords: anthropometric index; girls; puberty; thyroid volume; thyroid volume index.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Body Mass Index*
Body Surface Area*
Child
Cohort Studies
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Iodine / urine*
Nutritional Status*
Organ Size
Prognosis
Thyroid Gland / diagnostic imaging
Thyroid Gland / physiology*
Ultrasonography / methods*

Substances

Iodine