[Intraoperative functional study of unilateral cold thyroid nodules].

The authors studied 7 patients (age between 22 and 52 years, mean 40.2 +/- 6.55 S.D.) with single or multiple solid nodules, localized in the same thyroid lobe. All subjects performed scintiscanning and echography for evaluating the nature of nodules. During the thyroidectomy the hormonal pattern has been studied in the venous blood of both lobes (inferior thyroid and jugular veins, homo and heterolateral). The authors found a significant decrease of T3 and T4 values with increased T3/T4 ratio at the nodular level. This report could be related to an hypothetical alteration of iodination mechanisms, maybe due to an intrinsic defect of oxidative mitochondrial systems.