Painless Thyroiditis and Transient Thyrotoxicosis After Graves' Disease
- Jerome H. Check, MD;
- Joseph Avellino, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
PAINLESS thyroiditis associated with transient thyrotoxicosis is a well-recognized entity and may account for 15% of all cases of thyrotoxicosis.1,2 It is important to distinguish this condition from Graves' disease, because treatment of the two disorders is different. Because the uptake of iodine is depressed in transient thyrotoxicosis associated with thyroiditis, therapy with antithyroid medication or iodine 131 is ineffective, and since the disease is selflimited, surgery is inappropriate.3 Therefore, a radioactive iodine uptake study in newly discovered thyrotoxic patients is indicated as a means of distinguishing these two different conditions.4,5
Graves' disease is characterized by remissions and exacerbations. However, in a patient experiencing an apparent recurrence, the radioactive iodine uptake determination should be repeated, even if the serum thyroxine (T4) or triiodothyroxine (T3) level is elevated, as our case illustrates.
Report of a Case The condition of a 28-year-old patient was first diagnosed as
Footnotes
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