CHANGES IN PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS FOLLOWING THYROIDECTOMY IN EUTHYROID GOITER PATIENTS

Abstract

It has been shown by many investigators that there is an upper airway obstruction in patients with goiter even when they are asympthomatic. In variable extrathoracic airway obstruction the inspiratory restriction can be easily observed an inspiratory plateau in flow-volume loop and an increased MEF₅₀/MIF₅₀ ratio. In this study, pulmonary function tests and flow-volume loops of 15 patients with euthyroid goiter were investigated before and after surgery. Following thyroidectomy, there was a statistically significant (p<0.01) decrease in MEF₅₀/MIF₅₀ ratio and an improvement in the airflow dynamics. It has been suggested that, flow-volume loop is a simple, noninvasive and valuable method in the assessment of upper airway obstruction of the patients with goiter.