PMID: 9638164Jun 25, 1998Paper

Incidence and functional role of antithyroid antibodies in hyperthyroidism

La Radiologia medica
L TagliabueG L Tarolo

Abstract

We report our personal experience in patients with biochemical hyperthyroidism and no nodules, studying the correlations between antithyroid autoantibodies titers, thyroid function and clinical symptoms. We examined 93 patients (13 men and 80 women, mean age: 44.6 years, range: 25-68 years) referred for suspected hyperthyroidism. Thyroid 99mTc scintigraphy was performed and the 20 minutes' uptake index (UI) calculated: all these patients had a scintigraphic pattern of normal or enlarged thyroid with homogeneous radiotracer uptake. The presence and titer of antiperoxidase (TPO) and anti-TSH receptor antibodies (TRAB), FT3, FT4, TSH were assayed. Based on the results, the patients were divided into 4 subgroups: A (high TRAB/high TPO, no. 17), B (low TRAB/high TPO, no. 15), C (high TRAB/low TPO, no. 35), D (low TRAB/low TPO, no. 26). The incidence of hyperthyroidism symptoms was 94% in Group A, 40% in Group B, 89% in Group C, 50% in group D. UI significantly correlated with FT3 (p < .001), FT4 (p < .01) and TRAB (p < .01) titers. FT3 and UI average values were significantly higher in Group A and Group C patients (high TRAB) than in Group B and Group D patients (low TRAB) (p < .01); these parameters were significantly higher also i...Continue Reading

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