Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Graves’ disease is a rare and severe condition, affecting mainly younger children. Its appropriate management in children remains a subject of controversy in pediatric endocrinology, and the optimal duration of medical treatment to induce remission of the disease, as well as the indications for alternative therapies, remain to be defined.

Observation: This is a 15-year-old child who presented at the age of 13 years and 10 months with typical clinical signs of Graves’ disease associated with exophthalmia. Clinical and paraclinical data led to the diagnosis of Graves’ disease. Follow-up was difficult: the patient was noncompliant and took his treatment irregularly. Hyperthyroidism induce: osteopenia and disturbed liver function; exophthalmias without inflammation. Because of non-compliance of treatment, we opt for total thyroidectomy.

Conclusion: Positive diagnosis of Graves’ disease in children is often easy, but poses difficulties in management. The well-codified medical treatment is unfortunately often very poorly accepted in children, making the duration of treatment long and often imposing radical treatment in these situations.