[Iodine supply and struma in Austria]

Austria is an iodine deficient area as are most parts of Europe. Goiters were always a natural phenomenon. In 1924 goiter prevalence in school children was 45 to 47% and a first attempt was made with iodized salt. This iodized salt (5 mg NaI/kg salt) was not used widely and goiter prevalence remained unchanged for decades. Therefore, in 1963, salt iodized with 10 mg KI/kg was introduced by law in a semi-mandatory way: Non-iodized salt was allowed to be sold only by special request. Consequently, in 1982, 68% of the total salt sold was iodized salt, goiter prevalence dropped to 1.5% in first graders, hypothyroidism in newborns was 1:4,600 and cretinism disappeared. However, in 18 years old females, goiter prevalence was still 13%, and in adults up to 30%. Investigations in various regions of Austria showed that iodine supplementation was insufficient with a mean urinary excretion of 42 to 75 micrograms I/g Cr. Therefore the Austrian Society of Nuclear Medicine (ONG) demanded the raise of the iodine content of salt to 20 mg KI/kg. Finally, in 1990 a new law was issued by the Government following this proposal. In 1992, investigations were done in various regions of Austria demonstrating a normalized iodine excretion of 129 to 177 micrograms I/g Cr. Further prospective and retrospective studies will be done by the ONG.