[Somatotypological and regional regularities of ultrasound anatomy of the thyroid gland].

The purpose of this study was to establish the regularities of the anatomical structure of the thyroid gland (TG) in healthy people aged 17-30 years of various somatic types, living in the Rostov region. The complex study of TG was carried out in 306 healthy subjects (150 male and 156 female) with ultrasonography performed according to C. L. Brown (1981). Somatotyping was done using the technique of R. N. Dorokhov and V. G. Petrukhina (1989). Sexual dimorphism of the linear dimensions, right and left lobe volumes and of TG total volume was demonstrated. In men,TG total volume was significantly greater (P<0.05), than that in women (11.7 +/- 0.43 and 9.37 +/- 0.28 cm3, respectively). Regional and constitutional features of the thyroid gland in healthy subjects living in the Rostov region were established. Linear dimensions, total TG volume and the volumes of TG lobes were found to be lower in the residents of the Rostov region as compared to these parameters in people living in the northern regions of Russia.