Ultrasound examination of the thyroid. 
Ultrasound examination of the thyroid offers an accurate morphological picture and the possibility of comparing objectively the size of lobes and lesions over long periods.  Cysts and calcifications, mostly benign, are readily recognized.  Neoplastic lesions in our series were all less reflective than normal thyroid tissue.  But so were the majority of benign nodules.  In hyperthyroidism, subacute thyroiditis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the thyroid tissue is much less echogenic than in the normal gland.