Amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism has on most instances been reported as mild, and thyroid functions return to normal after discontinuation of the drug. Nevertheless, life-threatening amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis has also been described. Conventional treatments such as antithyroid drugs (thionamide) and corticosteroids are essentially ineffective or fail to alter the dramatic course of the thyroid crisis. This limited effectiveness of medical therapy, particularly in patients with previously neglected or unknown thyroid disease, prompted us to intervene surgically. We report a series of nine patients who underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy as a first-line therapy for five of them. Surgery resulted in rapid resolution of thyrotoxicosis with an uneventful postoperative course. This approach has the advantage of immediate effectivity, low risk of relapse, and appears to be the only treatment that permits continued therapy with amiodarone when the drug appears needed to control a life-threatening arrhythmia.

Aged↗

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Familial inappropriate TSH secretion: evidence suggesting a dissociated pituitary resistance to T3 and T4.

The study of pituitary thyroid relationships of a 40-year-old woman, suffering from recurrent goiter, is presented. The characteristics of this case were the following: i) constant hyperthyrotropinemia (range 8.2 to 29 micro u/ml) despite high thyroid hormone levels (mean total T4:13.4 microgram/dl; mean total T3:255 ng/dl) and clinical euthyroidism; ii) this TSH hypersecretion is not regulated by an excess of T4, while a suppressive effect is easily observed with T3. Together with the clinical effects observed with administration of T3 and T4, this suggests that thyroid hormone resistance predominates at the pituitary level, for T4 while not T3; iii) evidence is presented for the familial distribution of the trait and its mode of transmission. The clinical aspect and the pattern of resistance exhibited by the propositus and her progeny appear distinct from those of previous observations of thyroid hormone resistance.

Adult↗

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[Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in a Belgian family. Relative frequency of pes cavus and of abnormalities of nerve conduction. Preliminary note].

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Adolescent↗

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Chemical composition of porcine thyroid cell plasma membranes.

Plasma membranes were isolated from thyroid cells obtained by trypsinization of porcine glands and maintained in culture conditions in the presence or absence of thyrotropin or dibutyryl cyclic AMP. The protein, phospholipid, cholesterol and sialic acid content of the 3 types of cell plasma membranes were very similar. High cholesterol and sialic acid content characterized these membranes. The amino acid and carbohydrate composition was similar to that shown for other eukaryotic plasma membranes. Sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis disclosed the presence of more than 20 protein bands, of which six corresponded to glycoproteins.

Amino Acids↗

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Maternal serum placental growth hormone and insulinlike growth factor binding proteins 1 and 3 in pregnancies affected by fetal aneuploidy and other abnormalities: implications for prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 21.

In the present study, we determined circulating serum levels of human placental growth hormone (hPGH) and insulinlike growth factor binding proteins 1 and 3 (IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3) using two-site radioimmunoassays during the gestational midtrimester of pregnancies affected by chromosomal disorders with the aim of identifying potential marker substances that might have a significant discriminative and predictive value for prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal aberrations and of organ malformations such as neural-tube defect. Our results show that the maternal serum levels of hPGH were significantly elevated in pregnancies affected by chromosomal anomalies or organ malformations as compared with controls. The distribution of IGFBP-1 concentrations for all experimental groups except trisomy 21 were closely similar to the normal population. IGFBP-3 decreased slightly in pregnancies affected by Down syndrome. These findings suggest that hPGH may be useful as an additional marker in prenatal screening for Down syndrome.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cellular localization of IGF-I and IGF-II mRNAs in immature hypophysectomized rat testis and epididymis after in vivo hormonal treatment.

IGF-I and II genes expression has been localized by in situ hybridization in testis and epididymis of immature hypophysectomized rats treated in vivo with either pFSH, hLH, bGH, hPRL or with saline. IGF-I mRNA expression was found in both Sertoli and Leydig cells after treatment with either FSH or LH. IGF-I mRNA was highly expressed in germ cells after FSH stimulation and to a lesser extent after GH or LH treatments. However, its expression was very low in hypophysectomized control or PRL treated rats. IGF-I mRNA was also expressed in stromal cells of epididymis after LH treatment and to a lesser extent after GH stimulation. In contrast, IGF-II mRNA expression was detected in all testicular cell types whatever the hormonal treatment (FSH, LH, GH, PRL). For each hormonal treatment testicular sections were examined after immunohistochemical staining with specific antisera against IGF-I and IGF-II. Both in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical data were examined in order to determine the testicular sites of synthesis of IGF-I and IGF-II.

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