Subacute Thyroiditis: Epidemiological, Clinical, Biochemical

and Radiological features

Abdullah Al Sabahi, Abdullah Al Futaisi
AIM AND JUSTIFICATION RESULTS RESULTS
This study is aimed to estimate the incidence of subacute thyroiditis • A total of 150 patient’s data were recorded, Incidence rate was Thyroid nodules Goiter Thyroid Vascularity
in patients at SQUH and to determine the epidemiological, clinical, 115 new cases/1000 population who underwent thyroid uptake
biochemical, and radiological characteristics as well as the treatment scan. 17%
choices that were employed to the patients, this study hopes to • 107 patients were females (71%). Female: male ratio was 2.5:1. 44% 47%
improve the patients care and add to the body of knowledge. • 65% of the patients were middle aged at time of presentation. 56% 53%
83%
BACKGROUND
• Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is an inflammatory disease Present Absent Present Absent Increased Normal
that affects the thyroid gland.
• Clinical presentation include fever, thyroid tenderness, Figure 2: Ultrasonographic findings in SAT patients
goiter and symptoms related to hyperthyroidism. • Thyroid scintigraphy results showed that 123 patients (82%) had
• Thyroid function test shows elevation in Free Thyroxine low or suppressed thyroid uptake.
(FT4) and suppression of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone • Management options revealed that majority of the patients were
(TSH). taking more than one medication. In general, β-blockers were
• Ultrasound of the gland reveals thyroid enlargement, prescribed for 71 patients (47%), NSAIDs for 55 patients (36%).
nodular formation and normal vascularity. • 30 patients (20%) did not take any medication.
• Management option include NSAIDs and corticosteroids. Figure 1:Number of SAT patients in different age intervals
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES • Clinical presentation showed that palpitation (59.7%) and SUMMARY
• To estimate the incidence of SAT in SQUH. thyroid tenderness (29.3%) were the most common presenting
symptoms in SAT patients . The demographic, clinical and biochemical characteristics of SAT
• To describe the epidemiological characteristic of patients
with SAT. • Exophthalmos (5.3%) and skin lesion (1.3%) were reported the in Oman were consistent with the data published from other
least. countries. However, radiological features and treatment options
• Identify the presenting symptoms of SAT.
Table 1: Laboratory and thyroid uptake scan results were variable in consistency. The findings of this study can be
• Identify the biochemical features in SAT.
Normal value Mean ± Range helpful for clinicians to understand the pattern of this disease which
• Identify the radiological characteristics in SAT. Laboratory test
can lead to improvements in patient’s care.
• Describe the treatment options used for SAT at SQUH. SD
FT4 (pmol/L) 12.3-20.2 35.4±21.7 (5.6-154.0)
METHODOLOGY
TSH (mIU/L) 0.27-4.20 0.3±0.8 (0.01-6.0) Main References
This is a retrospective study in which the medical records of
150 patients admitted to the radiology department who were ESR (mm/hr) 0-20 47.3±39.3 (2-130) • Alfadda, A.A., Sallam, R.M., Elawad, G.E., Aldhukair, H.,
diagnosed with subacute thyroiditis between January 2015 to CRP (mg/L) 0-10 49.6±62.1 (1-265) Alyahya, M.M., 2014. Int. J. Endocrinol. 2014.
January 2020 at SQUH were reviewed. “Trakcare” system was • Fatourechi, V., Aniszewski, J.P., Fatourechi, G.Z.E., Atkinson,
Thyroid uptake and 1-4 0.6±0.78 (0-3.6) E.J., Jacobsen, S.J., 2003. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 88, 2100–5.
used to obtain patient’s data. Descriptive statistics were
scan (%)
presented in numbers, percentages, graphs and tables. FT4: Free thyroxine, TSH: Thyroid-stimulating hormone, ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP: C-reactive protein.