Treatment of Goiter with Traditional Chinese Medicine Regimen Xing Qi Hua Ying Tang: A Clinical Study on 72 Patients with Multinodular and Diffuse Goiter

Objective: The present work aimed to further explore the therapeutic potential of Xing Qi Hua Ying Tang (XQHYT) by conducting a systemic clinical study in patients with goiter. Design: Seventy-two patients with either multinodular or diffuse goiter were enrolled and randomly assigned into treatment group receiving XQHYT (n = 36) and control group receiving Hai Zao Yu Hu Tang (n = 36). Location: Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Shanxi. Subjects: Patients were diagnosed multinodular goiter or diffuse goiter resulting from Qi stagnation. Intervention: All patients took the extract twice a day (100 mL each time) for two courses of treatment, of which a single course lasted for 3 months. Before the treatment was commenced and after the completion of the treatment, general body checks, thyroid function test, and goiter size examination were performed. Outcome measures: Scoring of the clinical symptoms using Chinese medicine symptomatology was also done. Results: The symptom score of the treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group (treatment group, 8.26 ± 2.62; control group, 10.02 ± 2.62; p < 0.05). Substantial reduction in goiter size was seen in 82.3% of XQHYT-treated patients, whereas in the control group only 67.7% of patients exhibited constricted goiter. When assessed by both the Chinese medicine criteria and goiter size, the overall effective rate of the treatment group was 91.2%, whereas that of the control group was only 67.7%. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). XQHYT did not affect the normal functions of liver, kidney, and heart. For both groups of patients, their levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, free T4 and free T3 were normal before the treatment, and were not affected by the treatment. Conclusion: XQHYT was shown to be a promising therapeutic regimen for the treatment of goiter. The herbal regimen ameliorated clinical symptoms of patients that were accompanied with reduction in the size of goiter.