[Value of echography for measuring the volume of the thyroid and its lesions].

The sizes of thyroid lobes and lesions estimated by ultrasonography have been compared to surgical specimens in 92 cases of thyroid pathology. Volumes can be calculated with a reasonable accuracy for parenchymatous and cystic lesions from measurements of their diameters when considered as ellipsoids. This easy method, currently used by ultrasonographers, is however unsatisfactory for estimation of the volumes of thyroid lobes. More reliable results are obtained by computation of volumes from planimetry of cross-sections through the gland.