[Operative standards in endocrine surgery: preoperative thyroid gland diagnosis].

Even in the era of efficient methods for diagnosis of disturbances of thyroidal function and morphology, the diagnostic program starts with inquiry of history and physical examination. Today, high resolution sonography is the basic method for assessment of thyroidal morphology whereas scintigraphy exclusively gives informations on topography of function. In-vitro determinations of TSH with sensitive assays are the most sensitive and efficient procedures for the clinically most relevant question, namely the exclusion of disturbances of global thyroidal function.