GOITER IN SOUTHERN CHINESE CHILDREN IN HONG-KONG

In a 9-year retrospective review of goitre in Chinese children in Hong Kong, 84 children and adolescents were identified. There was a female predominance with a male:female ratio of 1:5.5. The majority of patie nts (95%) were found to have diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland. Forty-nine were found to have Graves' disease. The mean age of presen tation of patients with Graves' disease was 11.34 years. Forty-three o f them were found to have thyroid autoantibodies. Only two cases of au toimmune thyroiditis with thyroid autoantibodies were diagnosed. The o ther causes of goitre include simple colloid goitre, multinodular goit re and suppurative thyroiditis. The spectrum of disease causing goitre in Chinese children is thus quite different from that reported in Cau casian children in developed countries. Further studies are necessary to define the genetic or environmental factors resulting in the observ ed differences.