scholarly journals Life-Threatening Hypercalcemia due to Graves’ Disease and Concomitant Adrenal Failure: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hande Mefkure Ozkaya ◽  
Fatma Ela Keskin ◽  
Ozlem Asmaz Haliloglu ◽  
Tugba Elif Senel ◽  
Pinar Kadioglu
Keyword(s):  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Adrenal Failure ◽  
Severe Hypercalcemia ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
History Of ◽  
Laboratory Examinations ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
Possible Cause ◽  
Rule Out

A 47-year-old woman presented with the complaints of nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. She had a history of bilateral surrenalectomy due to Cushing’s syndrome. On examination she had tachycardia and orthostatic hypotension. Laboratory examinations revealed hypercalcemia and suppressed parathyroid hormone levels. She also had thyrotoxicosis due to Graves’ disease. The investigations to rule out a malignancy were negative. With steroid, zoledronic acid, and antithyroid drug treatment her symptoms were resolved and calcium level was normalized. This case highlights the importance of recognizing thyrotoxicosis and concomitant adrenal failure as a possible cause of severe hypercalcemia.

scholarly journals Standardized grey scale ultrasonography in Graves' disease: correlation to autoimmune activity

1999 ◽  
pp. 332-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
U Schiemann ◽  
R Gellner ◽  
B Riemann ◽  
G Schierbaum ◽  
J Menzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Gland ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Thyroid Volume ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
Grey Scale ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
Student’S T ◽  
A Prospective Study

OBJECTIVE: Graves' disease leads to thyroid enlargement and to reduction of tissue echogenicity. Our purpose was to correlate grey scale ultrasonography of the thyroid gland with clinical and laboratory findings in patients with Graves' disease. DESIGN: Fifty-three patients with Graves'disease were included in our study, 100 euthyroid volunteers served as control group. Free thyroxine (FT(4)), TSH and TRAb (TSH receptor antibodies) values were measured and correlated with sonographic echogenicity of the thyroid gland. METHODS: All patients and control persons underwent ultrasonographical histogram analyses under standardized conditions. Mean densities of the thyroid tissues were determined in grey scales (GWE). RESULTS: Compared with controls with homogeneous thyroid lobes of normal size (25.6 +/- 2.0GWE, mean +/- S.D.) echogenicity in patients with Graves' disease was significantly lower (21.3 +/- 3. 3GWE, mean +/- S.D., P < 0.0001). Among the patients with Graves' disease significant differences of thyroid echo levels were revealed for patients with suppressed (20.4 +/- 3.1 GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=34) and normalized TSH values (22.5 +/- 3.6GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=19, P < 0.02). Significantly lower echogenicities were also measured in cases of persistent elevated TRAb levels (19.9 +/- 2.9GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=31) in comparison with normal TRAb levels (22.9 +/- 3.5 GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=22, P < 0.0015). No correlation could be verified between echogenicity and either still elevated or already normalized FT(4) values or the thyroid volume. In coincidence of hyperthyroidism and Graves' ophthalmopathy (19.7 +/- 3.5GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=23) significantly lower echogenicity was measured than in the absence of ophthalmological symptoms (22.3 +/- 3.3GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=30, P < 0.016). Patients needing active antithyroid drug treatment revealed significantly lower thyroid echogenicity (20.3 +/- 3.1 GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=40) than patients in remission (23.7 +/- 3.4 GWE, mean +/- S.D., n=13, P < 0.001). Statistical evaluation was carried out using Student's t-test. CONCLUSIONS: Standardized grey scale histogram analysis allows for supplementary judgements of thyroid function and degree of autoimmune activity in Graves' disease. Whether these values help to estimate the risk of recurrence of hyperthyroidism after withdrawal of antithyroid medication should be evaluated in a prospective study.

scholarly journals The thyroid function of Graves' disease patients is aggravated by depressive personality during antithyroid drug treatment

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Fukao ◽  
Junta Takamatsu ◽  
Sumihisa Kubota ◽  
Akira Miyauchi ◽  
Toshiaki Hanafusa
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Thyroid Function ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
Depressive Personality

scholarly journals Remission Rate of Graves' Disease and the Trend of Changes in Serum TSH Receptor Antibodies in Prolonged Antithyroid Drug Treatment

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (Suppl) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo Villagelin ◽  
Roberto Bernardo Santos ◽  
João Hamilton Romaldini
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Remission Rate ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Antithyroid Drugs ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Remission Rates ◽  
Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Receptor Antibodies

Context: Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease caused by thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb). These antibodies can be measured and used for the diagnosis, prediction of remission, and risk of Graves’ orbitopathy development. There are three treatments for Graves’ disease that have remained unchanged for the last 75 years: Antithyroid drugs, radioiodine, and surgery. Antithyroid drugs are the first treatment option worldwide and are usually used for 12 - 18 months. Recent reports suggest the use of antithyroid drugs for more than 18 months with better outcomes. This review focuses on two aspects of treatment with antithyroid drugs: The impact of using antithyroid drugs for more than 12 - 18 months on remission rates and the trend of TRAb during prolonged antithyroid drug treatment. Evidence Acquisition: A review was performed in Medline on the published work regarding the duration of ATD treatment and remission of Graves' disease and also ATD treatment and TRAb status during the 1990 - 2019 period. Results: Remission rates are variable (30% - 80%), and many clinical and genetic factors serve as predictors. The long-term use of antithyroid drugs appears to increase remission rates. TRAb values usually decline during ATD treatment, but the trend could occur in two ways: Becoming negative or showing a fluctuating pattern. However, approximately 10% of the patients will remain TRAb-positive after five years of treatment with antithyroid drugs. Conclusions: Antithyroid drugs can be used for long periods with an increase in remission rates, and a gradual decrease in TRAb levels, with the disappearance of TRAb in 90% of the patients after 60 months.

scholarly journals Use of the 2nd generation TRAK human assay did not improve prediction of relapse after antithyroid medical therapy of Graves' disease

2002 ◽  
pp. 173-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Zimmermann-Belsing ◽  
B Nygaard ◽  
AK Rasmussen ◽  
U Feldt-Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Diagnostic Sensitivity ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Diagnostic Specificity ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Negative Test ◽  
Recombinant Human Tsh ◽  
Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment

OBJECTIVE: Antithyroid drug treatment (ATD) is used world-wide in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis in patients with Graves' disease (GD). The main problem is a relapse rate of 30 to 50% within 2 years after the treatment has stopped. The measurement of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb) in serum has been used to confirm the diagnosis of GD in selected patients with a diagnostic specificity of 70 to 90%. However, in predicting the recurrence of thyrotoxicosis after discontinuing ATD it has been of little value. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of TRAb measured by the more sensitive recombinant human TSH receptor method to predict risk of recurrence of GD after discontinuing ATD. MATERIALS, PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty nine patients with newly diagnosed GD were included. Of these, 58 had relapse of hyperthyroidism in a follow-up of at least 11 months (median 18 months, range 11-49) after discontinuing ATD. In 122 Graves' patients TRAb were measured at the time of diagnosis and in all patients when discontinuing ATD by a competitive radioreceptor assay using recombinant human TSH receptors (TRAK human assay). RESULTS: We found an increased diagnostic specificity (99%) compared with the old TRAK porcine assay. The predictive values of a positive and negative test in relation to the prediction of a relapse of GD were found to be only 55% and 62% respectively when using a cut-off level of 1.5 IU/l, and the predictive value of a positive test decreased to 49% and of a negative test to 60% at a lower cut-off limit (1 IU/l). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that the new TRAK human assay had a superior diagnostic sensitivity in comparison with the old TRAK porcine assay. Despite the higher diagnostic sensitivity of the TRAK human method, we could not find any improvement of predictive values for relapse of hyperthyroidism in the measurement of TRAb at the end of ATD.

Possible GoLytely-Associated Cardiac Arrest: A Case Report and Literature Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonsun Mo ◽  
Shiv Gandhi ◽  
Jose Orsini
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Abdominal Pain ◽  
Sudden Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Lower Abdominal Pain ◽  
The Past ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
History Of ◽  
Artery Disease ◽  
Possible Cause

Purpose: To report a case of sudden cardiac arrest possibly associated with the administration of GoLytely® (polyethylene glycol 3350 and electrolytes). Summary: A 60-year-old male with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and coronary artery disease presented to the emergency department with complaints of constipation and lower abdominal pain over the past week, and the inability to urinate over the past day. The patient had received GoLytely as treatment to alleviate symptoms of constipation and abdominal pain. However, several hours after administration of the bowel prep solution, the patient suffered an episode of cardiac arrest. After ruling out other possible etiologies, GoLytely was suspected as a possible cause of cardiac arrest. The patient had suffered an anoxic brain injury and remained intubated and unconscious until he eventually expired, 20 days after the event. Conclusion: Although GoLytely appears to be a safe agent with fewer side effects, clinicians need to be mindful of potential life-threatening adverse events following GoLytely administration and monitor patients closely during and after administration.

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