scholarly journals Difficulties in Differential Diagnosis of Thyrotoxicosis: Clinical Case

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A927-A928
Author(s):  
Natalia I Volkova ◽  
Ilya Davidenko ◽  
Irina Dzherieva ◽  
Lilia Ganenko ◽  
Igor Reshetnikov ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Thyrotoxicosis (T) develops as a result of persistent excess of thyroid hormones (TH). There are two groups of diseases that are fundamentally different in pathogenesis. The first group includes those in which the production of TH increases. Diseases of the second group are accompanied by T caused by destruction of the thyroid gland tissue. Therapeutic approaches for different pathogenetic types of T are different, therefore, a careful differential diagnosis of T is necessary, even if at first glance the diagnosis seems obvious. Clinical Case: A 35-year-old patient consulted a physician complaining of weakness, weight loss by 11 kg in 1.5 months, tremors, palpitations, which first appeared about a month ago. The examination revealed TSH <0.0083 mU/l (0.4-4.0), and an endocrinologist’s consultation was recommended. On examination, the thyroid gland is no larger than the distal phalanx of the subject’s thumb, BMI=24 kg/m2, HR=100 bpm, BP=115/80 mm Hg. Laboratory examination: TSH <0.0083 mU/l, free T4 =28.29 pmol/l (9.0-19.05). Ultrasound of the thyroid gland: signs of diffuse changes in tissue, the total volume=16.8 ml3. For differential diagnosis of T, antibodies to TSH receptors were determined, the titer of which turned out to be slightly increased 1.43 IU / L (<1). A diagnosis of Graves’ disease (GD) was made and treatment was prescribed (Tyrozol 30 mg, Bisoprolol 2.5 mg per day). After 3 weeks, the patient noted an improvement in well-being, but weakness, tremor, an increase in free T4 (23.33 pmol/l) and total T3 (3.26nmol / l at a rate of 0.98-2.33) remained. The lack of achievement of the target values of TH levels was regarded as inadequacy of the received dose of Tyrozol, in connection with which it was decided to increase the dose to 40 mg per day. After 2 weeks, an increase in free T4 (27.26 pmol/L) and total T3 (3.84 nmol/L) remained. The lack of positive dynamics called into question the diagnosis of GD. With a more thorough collection of anamnesis, it was found that 1.5 years ago, the patient took amiodarone for 6 months as prescribed by a cardiologist (he does not remember the dose). In this connection, to establish the cause of T, scintigraphy was performed: revealed a weak accumulation of a radiopharmaceutical with diffuse uneven distribution. Based on the data obtained, amiodarone-induced T type 2 was verified. Treatment was corrected: Tyrosol withdrawal and Prednisolone administration, 40 mg/day with positive dynamics from treatment. Conclusion: Clinical case demonstrates how important it is to carefully collect the patient’s history and follow the algorithms for differential diagnosis. Errors in diagnosis lead to incorrectly prescribed treatment, lengthening the duration of symptoms, which affects not only the patient’s quality of life, but also reduces the level of his trust in medical professionals.

Author(s):  
Irving B. Weiner

Abstract. This article concerns the utility of ego psychoanalytic perspectives in Rorschach interpretation. Psychoanalytic ego psychology focuses on how people cope with events in their lives and how effectively they can meet challenges to their sense of well-being. The way people deal with experienced distress constitutes their defensive style and determines to a large extent what kind of person they are. Adequate defenses against anxiety promote comfortable and productive adjustment, whereas ineffective defenses typically cause adjustment difficulties and susceptibility to psychological disorders. In Rorschach assessment, the nature and effectiveness of a person’s defensive style can often be identified with a sequence analysis that integrates the structural, thematic, and behavioral features in the protocol. In particular, the sequential quality of responses, especially preceding and following instances of cognitive slippage, can help identify causes of upsetting concerns, defensive efforts to alleviating these concerns, and the adequacy of these defensive efforts in restoring equanimity. This interpretive process is illustrated with attention to implications for differential diagnosis and treatment planning in the Rorschach protocol of a 20-year-old suicidal woman.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-114
Author(s):  
Hilary L. Schroeder ◽  
Marianinha Joanes ◽  
Andre Small ◽  
Raghu Maramraj,

  Background: Quality of life is considered a crucial component to the well-being of patients with Down syndrome. The strength of quality care through stable social and psychological interactions has built a framework for a positive well-being for patients with Down syndrome, improving their quality of life. Case: A 55-year-old African American female with a history of Down syndrome, congenital heart disease, and newly-diagnosed early onset Alzheimer’s disease presented with an arm contusion resulting from regular caretaking. The patient’s history was reviewed, and the complexity of her condition was discovered. While a subset of Down syndrome patients have cardiac complications and others have early-onset Alzheimer’s, our patient had both. We believe this complicated her condition. After the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was made, the caregivers noticed a significant decline in her ability to communicate and continue day-to-day activities. Despite the decline in functions, a positive mood was apparent. Conclusion: Multiple medical interventions, along with strong family support, positively contributed to the patient’s quality of life. Therapies targeting cognition could result in the maintenance of quality of life and, ultimately, lower health care costs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Volkova ◽  
Ilia Davidenko ◽  
Irina Dzherieva ◽  
Alexander Zibarev ◽  
Lilia Ganenko ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Nodules on the background of Graves’ disease are less common among men than among women, but more than one in three patients have carcinoma. Despite the improvement of diagnostic methods, most often thyroid cancer is a random histological finding after thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease. Clinical case: A 55-year women complained of discomfort in the neck, sweating, irritability, palpitation. From anamnesis: in 2012 she was diagnosed with thyrotoxicosis syndrome. For 5 years, the patient was treated with thyrostatics, but when trying to reduce the dose, the syndrome of thyrotoxicosis recurred. In March 2017, the patient’s condition worsened, at the time of treatment she took Thyrosol 30 mg/day. Objectively: hypersthenic body type, BMI 33 kg/m2. Thyroid gland visually was increased in volume, dense with palpation, homogeneous, mobile. Elevated titer of antibodies to the TSH receptor was discovered, according to the ultrasound - increase thyroid gland 30.2 cm3, hyperechogenic formation of the left lobe 10х10х9 mm with hypoechoic rim, clear smooth contours, intranodular blood flow. As a result, the Graves’ disease, goiter grade 2, manifest thyrotoxicosis was verified, surgical treatment was recommended. Thyroidectomy, histological examination was performed: Graves’ disease was confirmed, papillary microcarcinoma with metastasis to 1 regional lymph node was revealed. Diagnosed: papillary thyroid cancer I st (pT1aN1aM0x), 2 clinical group. The patient was prescribed suppressive therapy with L-thyroxine 100 µg/day, against which after 3 months TSH reached the target values (0.2–0.5 Mme/l). Taking into account the histological characteristics of the tumor, the nature and volume of the lesion, age, the patient belongs to the group of intermediate cancer risk of progression of cancer. According to scintigraphy residual functioning thyroid tissue (20x15 mm) was detected. Radioiodine therapy was carried out in a specialized hospital. Suppressive therapy of L-thyroxine 150 µg/day, target values of TSH 0.1 - 0.5 Mme/l was recommended. After 6 months, TSH reached target values, and according to the results of ultrasound of thyroid gland no data for structural relapse was found. Conclusion: Patients with long-existing, often recurrent Graves’ disease and questionable effect of conservative therapy, in the presence of nodular formation should be assigned to the risk group for the presence of thyroid cancer and carefully examined, because the need for further surgery depends on it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 5503
Author(s):  
Camil Ciprian Mireștean ◽  
Roxana Irina Iancu ◽  
Dragoș Petru Teodor Iancu

Radiation therapy is part of the therapeutic arsenal for breast cancer, whether it is adjuvant treatment after lumpectomy or radical mastectomy, or it is used as a palliative option in the case of metastatic or recurrent disease. Significant advances in diagnostic and therapeutic stratification of breast cancers have significantly prolonged survival, even in the metastatic stage. Exposure of patients during the course of the disease in a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach including chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted anti-HER therapies or CDK4/6 inhibitors had led to improved survival but with the price of additional toxicity. Among them, hypothyroidism is a well-known consequence of external radiation therapy, especially in the case of cervical region irradiation, including supraclavicular and infra-clavicular nodal levels. In this situation, the thyroid gland is considered as an organ at risk (OAR) and receives a significant dose of radiation. Subclinical hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disorder characterized by elevated TSH levels with normal levels of FT4 (free T4) and FT3 (free T3), and as a late effect, primary hypothyroidism is one of the late effects that significantly affects the quality of life for patients with breast cancer receiving multimodal treatment. Hypothyroidism has a significant impact on quality of life, most often occurring as late clinical toxicity, secondary to thyroid irradiation at doses between 30 and 70 Gy. Dose-volume parameters of irradiation, gland function at the beginning of the treatment and associated systemic therapies may be factors that alter thyroid radio-sensitivity and affect thyroid gland tolerance. In the case of head and neck tumor pathology, in which doses of >50 Gy are routinely used, the thyroid gland is generally considered as an OAR, the rate of radio-induced hypothyroidism being estimated at rates of between 20% and 52%. For breast cancer, the thyroid is often neglected in terms of dosimetry protection, the rate of late dysfunction being 6–21%.


2020 ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
I. G. Pakhomova ◽  
M. V. Malko-Skroz

In recent years, functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are quite common. The most significant functional disorders are functional dyspepsia (FD), which is widespread in the population. In addition, in the clinical practice of outpatient doctors, the proportion of combined variants or overlap of several types of functional disorders or a combination of functional disorders with organic pathology has increased. So, according to systematic reviews, the combined course of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and FD occurs in at least one third of patients. At the same time, the combined functional pathology of the gastrointestinal tract changes the clinical picture of GERD, which complicates differential diagnosis, leads to inadequate and multiple prescription of drugs and often low effectiveness of the prescribed therapy. All this negatively affects the quality of life of patients. The tactics of managing patients with the combined course of GERD and FD sometimes presents certain difficulties, since there are no available recommendations for pathogenetic therapy and preventive measures. To date, possible links in the pathogenesis of both GERD and FD have been studied and described, which predetermine certain approaches to the treatment of various variants of these two diseases. Drug therapy for GERD includes the appointment of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), antireflux drugs. In FD therapy, prokinetics and/or PPIs are effective. A rational approach in the treatment of the intersection of GERD and FD is the appointment of a drug with a dual mechanism of action, which contains both a prokinetic and a PPI. An example of this approach is the appointment of omeprazole and domperidone. The use of this drug is presented in a clinical case.


2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 860-866
Author(s):  
D. A. Tsaregorodtsev ◽  
P. A. Shelukha ◽  
L. V. Romasenko ◽  
M. M. Beraya ◽  
A. V. Sokolov

Aim. To study the psychosomatic relationships and quality of life (QOL) of patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) depending on the presence or absence of panic attacks (PA) in comparison with patients with heartbeat against the background of somatoform autonomic dysfunction.Material and methods. The study included patients with SVT and heart attacks due to sinus tachycardia in the context of somatoform autonomic disorder (SAD). All patients were interviewed to identify anxiety and depressive disorders (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] and Hamilton's Depression Scale), QOL assessment (SF-36 questionnaire), and they were also consulted by a psychiatrist who established the presence or absence of PA. According to a visual analogue scale, in points from 0 to 6, we assessed the general state of our patients' health (0 points corresponded to complete health, and 6 points corresponded to a serious illness) and the effect of heartbeat on well-being (0 points - no arrhythmia, 6 points - arrhythmia «nterferes with life»).Results. The study included 96 patients: 60 with SVT (21 men, 39 women, average age was 51 [33; 61] years) and 36 with heart attacks caused by sinus tachycardia in the framework of somatoform autonomic disorder (10 men, 26 women, average age was 33 [27; 41] years). Panic disorder was diagnosed in the SVT group in 17 patients, accounting for 28.3%. Only 7 patients (41%) could clearly differentiate between SVT and PA attacks. The low sensitivity of the HADS questionnaire in patients with SVT determined the need to consult a psychiatrist for the diagnosis of panic disorders.Conclusion. PA is typical for 28.3% of patients with SVT. The combination of SVT with PA reduces the QOL of patients due to its mental components, including due to the more frequent occurrence of depressive symptoms. Patients with SAD subjectively perceive the heartbeat as a more significant factor affecting health, compared with patients with SVT. Difficulties in the differential diagnosis of PA and SVT paroxysms in real clinical practice often lead to the appointment of the same therapy without taking into account the differences in the genesis of heartbeats.


Author(s):  
Andrés R. Cervantes-Chavarría

Persistent Idiopathic   Dentoalveolar Pain (PIDAP) is an orofacial neuropathic pain, which can be difficult to diagnose and is usually accompanied by increasing anxiety from both the patient and the treating dentist. A case of a 38-year-old female patient is presented, and it is shown the diagnostic process and therapeutic approach. The interdisciplinary management accompanied by several pharmacological lines is highlighted: Botulinum toxin was used as an adjunctive treatment allowing it to decrease systemically administered medications dosing and therefore its possible side effects. This condition usually affects psychosocial aspects of the patient and has a major impact on his quality of life. It is very important before initiating an invasive clinical treatment, obtaining a clear differential diagnosis and assessing in some cases the presence of non-odontogenic pain, such as PIDAP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Koken ◽  
Berk Guclu

Background Health-related quality of life (QOL) is defined as a patient's subjective perception of his or her own health. Insufficient data exist on QOL of patients who undergo a hallux valgus (HV) operation. We used a 36-item short form survey (SF-36) to measure QOL of such patients. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of HV on QOL and to identify QOL determinants. Methods Fifty patients who underwent surgery for HV between 2015 and 2017 were included in the study. The SF-36 questionnaire was applied to the patients before and after surgery. Patients' medical records were examined to identify possible factors affecting QOL such as age, gender, body mass index, duration of symptoms, or smoking. Results The mean age of the patients was 55.6 ± 3.8 years, and 42 of the 50 patients were women. The mean duration of disease was 12 ± 3.7 years. The surgery improved QOL scores for general health, emotional well-being, role limitations due to personal or emotional problems, physical functioning and bodily pain. However, the changes in scores for vitality and social functioning were not statistically significant. Lower postoperative QOL scores for emotional well-being and bodily pain were significantly associated with age and duration of the symptoms. Compared to the mean QOL of healthy adult Turkish population, all scores in subdimensions were lower. Conclusions This study shows that HV in adults has a negative impact on general health, bodily pain, physical functioning, physical and emotional well-being rather than social well-being and vitality.


GeroPsych ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Mechthild Niemann-Mirmehdi ◽  
Andreas Häusler ◽  
Paul Gellert ◽  
Johanna Nordheim

Abstract. To date, few studies have focused on perceived overprotection from the perspective of people with dementia (PwD). In the present examination, the association of perceived overprotection in PwD is examined as an autonomy-restricting factor and thus negative for their mental well-being. Cross-sectional data from the prospective DYADEM study of 82 patient/partner dyads (mean age = 74.26) were used to investigate the association between overprotection, perceived stress, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The analyses show that an overprotective contact style with PwD has a significant positive association with stress and depression, and has a negative association with QoL. The results emphasize the importance of avoiding an overprotective care style and supporting patient autonomy.


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