Goitre

(goy’-ter). Enlargement of the thyroid gland, a bilobed organ lying on each side of the windpipe in the lower part of the front of the neck. Goitre is especially common among women, but it is only exceptionally that it gives rise to inconvenience. In Switzerland it is common among babies in certain districts, often in a ociation with cretinism. Exophthalmic goitre is a form of goitre in which protrusion of the eyeballs, rapid action of the heart, muscular tremor and extreme nervousne are prominent symptoms. See Graves’ disease.