Pediatric Graves’ Disease

Abstract

Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in children. It is characterized by suppressed thyroid stimulating hormone and elevated thyroxine levels with varying levels of thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins; and evidence of increased iodine uptake on thyroid scan. It is a multisystem disease with interplay of genetics and environmental factors. Due to the insidious onset of symptoms, diagnosis is often delayed leading to poor growth and development. The disorder could present at any age including neonatal period due to transfer of maternal antibodies in context of maternal Graves' disease. Herein, we review the current literature for Graves' disease affecting children and adolescents.

The characteristics of Grave’s disease in children and adolescent patients in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah

“…The demographic features were similar to findings from previous studies .6,7,17-18 The observed female-tomale ratio of 3:1 and mean age of 12.02±4.85 years compared favourably to reported data from other studies, which showed female-to-male ratios ranging from 4:1 to 6:1 and a mean age of 10-15 years. 6,7,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The majority of the patients presented as typical cases of GD; therefore, diagnosis was based on the clinical presentations and biochemical blood test )TSH, FT4, FT3( results. Thyroid antibodies, including TSI and TRAb, were not tested due to the unavailability of these tests.…”