HYPOTHYROIDISM

ETIOLOGY

Deficient thyroid hormone production can be due to thyroid failure (primary hypothyroidism) or, less commonly, pituitary or hypothalamic disease (secondary hypothyroidism) (Table 173-1). Congenital hypothyroidism is present in 1 of 4000 newborns; the importance of its recognition and prompt treatment for child development has led to the adoption of neonatal screening programs. Transient hypothyroidism may occur in silent or subacute thyroiditis. Subclinical (or mild) hypothyroidism is a state of normal free thyroid hormone levels and mild elevation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). With higher TSH levels and low free T4 levels, symptoms become more readily apparent in clinical (or overt) hypothyroidism. In areas of iodine sufficiency, autoimmune disease and iatrogenic causes are the most common etiologies of hypothyroidism. The peak age of occurrence is around 60 years, and prevalence increases with age. Novel anticancer and immunomodulatory treatments, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and alemtuzumab, can also induce thyroid autoimmunity via their effects on T cell regulation.
TABLE 173-1: Causes of Hypothyroidism
Primary
Autoimmune hypothyroidism: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, atrophic thyroiditis
Iatrogenic: 131I treatment, subtotal or total thyroidectomy, external irradiation of neck for lymphoma or cancer
Drugs: iodine excess (including iodine-containing contrast media and amiodarone), lithium, antithyroid drugs, p-aminosalicylic acid, interferon α and other cytokines, aminoglutethimide, sunitinib
Congenital hypothyroidism: absent or ectopic thyroid gland, dyshormonogenesis, TSH-R mutation
Iodine deficiency
Infiltrative disorders: amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, hemochromatosis, scleroderma, cystinosis, Riedel’s thyroiditis
Overexpression of type 3 deiodinase in infantile hemangioma
Transient
Silent thyroiditis, including postpartum thyroiditis
Subacute thyroiditis
Withdrawal of thyroxine treatment in individuals with an intact thyroid
After 131I treatment or subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease
Secondary
Hypopituitarism: tumors, pituitary surgery or irradiation, infiltrative disorders, Sheehan’s syndrome, trauma, genetic forms of combined pituitary hormone deficiencies
Isolated TSH deficiency or inactivity
Bexarotene treatment
Hypothalamic disease: tumors, trauma, infiltrative disorders, idiopathic
Abbreviations: TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone; TSH-R, TSH receptor.

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