Goiter in Tahiti

• Published in: Médecine tropicale Vol. 52; no. 1; p. 57
• Main Authors: Gras, C, Hellec, C, Spiegel, A, Chungue, E, Boutin, J P, Cardines, R, Laudon, F, Legall, R, Roy, C, Prigent, D
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: French
• Published: France 01-01-1992
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Diet Surveys; Female; Goiter - blood; Goiter - epidemiology; Goiter - pathology; Humans; Iodine - deficiency; Male; Middle Aged; Polynesia - epidemiology; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Smoking - adverse effects; Thiocyanates - blood; Thyroid Function Tests
• ISSN: 0025-682X

The authors report on a prospective study about goitre in French Polynesia carried out in 1989, dealing with epidemiology and disease characterization in 39 patients. 1. Epidemiology of goitre in Tahiti; In schools: 517 children (236 boys and 281 girls) aged from 10 to 15. Prevalence rate is 1.55 p.c. (8/517); Adults: 226 adults (112 males and 114 females) aged from 50 to 65. Prevalence rate is 4.42 p.c. (10/226). 2. Case study on 39 Polynesian patients (38 females and 1 male) living in Tahiti (mean age: 35.6 years old) showing euthyroidic goitre, detected from 1989 April 1st and October 31; Goitre did not present in Tahiti any particularity. It is a pathology mainly feminine, at low evolution and late local consequences; In 3/4 of the cases, goitre is visible and more it is voluminous more modules are present; There is no iodine deficiency, and the mean value of iodine excretion (536 mcg/24 h) is very high in comparison with what is described in the literature; Presence of a high thiocyanatemia (greater than 100 mmol/l) is found in 1/4 of the patients; There is no correlation between consumption of foods well-known as cyanogenical ones and the level of thiocyanatemia; There is a correlation between the rate of thiocyanatemia and tabagism.