Costanzo Mario, Caruso Laura Antonella Maria, Malaguarnera Mariano, Cavallaro Annunziata, Marziani Alessia, Cannizzaro Matteo Angelo
Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento Scienze chirurgiche, trapianti d'Organo e Tecnologie avanzate, Unità Operativa Clinicizzata di Endocrinochirurgia P.O.U. "S. Luigi-S. Currò".
Ann Ital Chir. 2008 Nov-Dec;79(6):447-50.
To evaluate the differences about incidence, kind and clinical features of thyroid diseases in young and elderly patients.
Our study has been conducted in Endocrine Surgery Unit, "S. Luigi and S. Currò" Hospital in Catania, from January 2001 to December 2003. In this period 621 patients affected with different thyroidopathies were observed. They were divided in two groups: elderly (65 years or older), named Group A, and young subjects (under 65 years old), named Group B. Group A included 147 people aged between 65 and 89, with F:M = 3.9:1. Our study was founded on clinical and laboratory evaluation of thyroid hormones and antibodies (AAT, AMT) and subsequently an ultrasonographical evaluation, that has been completed, in some cases, with cytologic examination (FNAc).
The main aspect about thyroid diseases is the different and atypical presentation in the elderly in comparison to young patients, with subsequent difficult diagnosis due to common symptoms to thyroidopathies rather than to physiological ageing. The most common thyroid dysfunctions in elderly are the autoimmune thyroidopathies, responsible of hypothyroidism. Such condition, in elderly, is often clinically irrelevant.
评估年轻和老年患者甲状腺疾病在发病率、类型及临床特征方面的差异。
我们的研究于2001年1月至2003年12月在卡塔尼亚的“S. Luigi和S. Currò”医院内分泌外科进行。在此期间，观察了621例患有不同甲状腺疾病的患者。他们被分为两组：老年组（65岁及以上），称为A组；年轻组（65岁以下），称为B组。A组包括147人，年龄在65至89岁之间，女性与男性比例为3.9:1。我们的研究基于对甲状腺激素和抗体（抗甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体、抗甲状腺球蛋白抗体）的临床和实验室评估，随后进行超声评估，在某些情况下还通过细胞学检查（细针穿刺抽吸活检）完成。
甲状腺疾病的主要方面是老年患者与年轻患者相比表现不同且不典型，随后由于甲状腺疾病的常见症状而非生理衰老导致诊断困难。老年患者中最常见的甲状腺功能障碍是自身免疫性甲状腺疾病，可导致甲状腺功能减退。在老年患者中，这种情况通常在临床上不具有相关性。
