[Functional evaluation of cystic thyroid nodules]

7 patients (age between 22 and 52 years, mean 38.2 +/- 10.6 SD) with cystic nodules have been subjected to the same diagnostic screening (scintiscanning and echography, needle aspiration); in every subject hormonal pattern has been studied at the cyst and periphery level. The Authors found very high TG levels in the cyst's fluid, perhaps due to an increased sensitiviness to the thyrotropic hormone, and an rT3/T4 increased at periphery level, probably because an enhancement of mechanisms connected to the reuptake of iodine. These reports outline the great importance in the induction and development of cystic nodules of changes related to the enzymatic steps of iodination and coupling.