Evaluation of long-term follow-up and methimazole therapy outcomes of pediatric Graves’ disease: a single-center experience
-
Elvan Bayramoğlu
,
Selin Elmaogulları
Abstract
Background
The management options for Graves’ disease in children are limited and there is controversy regarding optimal treatment. Remission rate with anti-thyroid drug (ATD) treatment in children is said to be lower than in adults. Definitive treatments are effective, but they often result in permanent hypothyroidism. The objective of this study was to investigate the outcome of methimazole treatment, identify significant predictors of a remission and evaluate the adverse effects of methimazole in a pediatric population of GD patients.
Methods
Medical records of the patients who had been diagnosed with Graves’ disease were screened retrospectively. Diagnostic criteria included elevated free thyroxine (fT4) and total triiodothyronine (T3), suppressed thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and either positive thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI) or thyroid receptor antibodies (TRABs) or clinical signs suggestive of Graves’ disease, for example, exophthalmos. Remission was defined as maintenance of euthyroidism for more than 12 months after discontinuing methimazole treatment.
Results
Of the 48 patients, provisional remission was achieved in 21 patients. Of the 21 patients, 14 experienced a relapse (66.6%). Remission was achieved in seven (24.1%) of 29 patients who received methimazole treatment for more than 2 years. In patients who achieved long-term remission, the male sex ratio and fT4 levels at diagnosis were significantly lower than the relapsed and non-remission groups, whereas the free triiodothyronine (fT3)/fT4 ratio and duration of methimazole treatment were significantly higher than the relapse group.
Conclusions
Long-term methimazole treatment in pediatric Graves’ disease would be appropriate. High fT4 levels at the time of diagnosis and male sex were associated with a risk of relapse.
Acknowledgments
The study was conducted in the pediatric endocrinology clinic of Dr. Sami Ulus Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics Training and Research Hospital.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- The importance of anthropological methods in the diagnosis of rare diseases
- Original Articles
- PON1 arylesterase activity, HDL functionality and their correlation in malnourished children
- Prevalence of dyslipidemia and factors affecting dyslipidemia in young adults with type 1 diabetes: evaluation of statin prescribing
- Myocardial dysfunction in relation to serum thiamine levels in children with diabetic ketoacidosis
- Evaluation of long-term follow-up and methimazole therapy outcomes of pediatric Graves’ disease: a single-center experience
- Endocrine consequences of neuroblastoma treatment in children: 20 years’ experience of a single center
- Analysis of diabetes-associated autoantibodies in children and adolescents with autoimmune thyroid diseases
- Adrenal function of extremely premature infants in the first 5 days after birth
- Atypical presentation of Leydig cell tumour in three prepubertal patients: diagnosis, treatment and outcomes
- The diagnosis of cystinosis in patients reveals new CTNS gene mutations in the Chinese population
- Comparing the validity of continuous metabolic syndrome risk scores for predicting pediatric metabolic syndrome: the CASPIAN-V study
- Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease (PPNAD): single centre experience
- Short Communication
- Classical galactosemia patients can achieve high IQ scores
- Case Reports
- Idiopathic gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty – is regular surveillance required?
- MYT1L mutation in a patient causes intellectual disability and early onset of obesity: a case report and review of the literature
- A case report and literature review of monoallelic mutation of GHR
- Pitfalls in the diagnosis of insulin autoimmune syndrome (Hirata’s disease) in a hypoglycemic child: a case report and review of the literature
