Body types and anatomical variability of the thyroid gland in women

One of the tasks of science of the constitution, along with the definition of a human's somatotype, is to identify the characteristic typological features of a body region, morphological and functional system or an individual organ, which, in combination with new morphological and clinical research methods, is of great scientific and practical importance. Interest in morphological and functional studies of the thyroid gland has been steadily growing over the past thirty years, which is associated with an increase in oncological diseases of this organ in young women and is caused by the deterioration of the environment and radiation pollution of the environment as a result of technological disasters. In addition, the development of iodine-deficient conditions increases, which affect the function of the thyroid gland. The purpose of the review is a descriptive meta-analysis of modern scientific data on the structure of the thyroid gland depending on the parameters of the neck and constitutional and typological characteristics of women. It was found that despite the large number of publications devoted to the morphology of the thyroid gland, most of the parameters of this organ were obtained only by standard ultrasound examination; insufficiently studied tissue organization of the gland at the macro-microscopic level; there is no unified classification of forms of the thyroid gland and data on the distribution of their frequency in persons of different sex; the relationship of the anatomical characteristics of this organ with the size of the neck, as well as with the somatotype, has not been sufficiently studied. It is noted that the majority of authors who carry out somatotyping prefer one scheme of constitutional diagnostics and rarely use a set of methods. Obviously, due to the increase in the incidence of the thyroid gland in young people, the objects of research should be people of young age. The increase in the frequency of oncological diseases of the thyroid gland and the success of endocrine surgery require a new approach to patients and dictate the need for a comprehensive study of this organ, taking into account the local and general constitution in women of a mature age period. Until now, researchers do not have an exact answer to the question of what constitutionally determined features can be identified in the neck area and whether there is a connection between the main morphological parameters of the thyroid gland with the somatotype and physical development of a person. Comprehensive studies of the thyroid gland, taking into account the parameters of the neck and constitutional variability of a person, may have new theoretical and practical significance.