SFE2001 Poster Presentations Thyroid (6 abstracts)
Low as opposed to fully suppressed serum TSH levels in ambulant subjects; frequently a pointer to thyroid autonomy
S Chatterjee 1 , BP O'Malley 1 , DE Price 2 , AM Fielding 2 & R Aitken 1
1Department of Endocrinology, Kettering General Hospital, Kettering, UK; 2Department of Endocrinology, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK.
In laboratories employing 'front-line' sensitive TSH measurement, it is generally accepted that fully suppressed TSH levels (3rd generation assays) alongside normal free thyroid hormone levels indicate subclinical hyperthyroidism. However, low but not suppressed levels are often labelled as non-thyroidal illness.
We investigated 25 successive ambulant individuals, identified over an 18 month period as having low but not fully suppressed TSH levels (3rd generation assay; sensitivity 0.01-0.03 mIU/L) with additional free T4, free T3 and thyroid microsomal antibody levels and thyroid isotope scanning (technetium).
Serum TSH levels (mean [SD]) were 0.22[0.26] mIU/L (NR 0.34-5.6 mIU/L), free T4 levels 14.7[4.2] pmol/L (10-25pmol/L), and free T3 levels 6.1[0.8]pmol/L (4.5-7.5pmol/L). Thyroid antibodies were negative in all but one individual. On isotope scanning, 9 individuals had hot nodules and 10 individuals had multinodular goitres (MNG). Of the six with normal scans, ultrasound scanning showed a definite MNG (N=1) and early MNG (N=2).
Thus a low as opposed to fully suppressed TSH is frequently a pointer to underlying thyroid disease.
Article tools
My recent searches
My recently viewed abstracts
Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
© Bioscientifica 2024 |
Privacy policy |
Cookie settings
BiosciAbstracts
Bioscientifica Abstracts is the gateway to a series of products that provide a permanent, citable record of abstracts for biomedical and life science conferences.
Find out more