MOSCOW, 23 Mar. TMU scientists presented a description of the features of autoimmune thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland) in children based on a clinical case of a teenage girl. According to the press service of the university, citing the authors of the study, normalization of thyroid function was achieved without complications and hospitalization.
Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is an inflammatory disease of the thyroid gland caused by an attack of immune cells on the functional cells of one's own body. The initial symptoms of this disease are sometimes non-specific, which makes it difficult to diagnose it in the early stages, scientists from the Tyumen Medical University (TMU) said.
AIT progresses and leads to gradual destruction of thyroid tissue. The organ cannot perform its function fully, and the production of hormones in it decreases, hypothyroidism develops. In advanced cases, children may develop cretinism (delayed physical and mental development), and adults may develop myxedema (mucous swelling of the skin on the face and neck).
Scientists have noted that diagnosing AIT in children is more difficult than in adults. For example, it is much more difficult for children to formulate specific complaints. They are either absent or nonspecific due to concomitant AIT pathologies (for example, somatoform autonomic dysfunction).
The researchers also said that in children the development of the disease is slower, and the enlargement of the thyroid gland can be mild or moderate. Changes are often detected in a child by accident during preventive examinations. tmu-1821737189.html» data->
In adults with AIT, iron, when palpated, is often enlarged in volume and has a dense texture. In children and adolescents with the initial stage of AIT, clinical signs of thyroid dysfunction may be absent, but in every fifth or sixth case it is possible to diagnose subclinical hypothyroidism, scientists emphasized.
Children with AIT may lag behind in physical, sexual and intellectual development, as well as one and a half to two times more often than their peers have various chronic diseases. which belongs to laboratory-instrumental methods, the researchers believe.
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"Pathology of the thyroid gland is observed quite often. It is worth considering that in the zone of increased risk — residents of regions with a lack of iodine in the soil, air and food. This problem, one way or another, is faced, for example, by every inhabitant of the Ob-Irtysh basin in Russia,” said Yulia Boldyreva, associate professor of the Department of Biological Chemistry at TMU, endocrinologist.
She also noted that with increasing age, the detection of certain thyroid diseases increases. At the same time, women get sick more often than men. Often these are diseases that were not diagnosed and not cured in the patient's childhood.
The article published by TMU scientists presents the features of the treatment of AIT in children based on a clinical case in which the problem was discovered by chance — during a medical examination at school. An increase in the volume of the thyroid gland was detected by ultrasound, a change in the level of thyroid hormones was laboratory established, and a high level of specific antibodies was diagnosed. Based on this, a preliminary diagnosis was made — hypothyroidism.
According to Yulia Boldyreva, the diagnosis, clinic, course and therapy of AIT in children may have features, that any doctor should remember specialties. For example, the rare individual hypersensitivity of thyroid cells to L-thyroxine, which requires correction of treatment, deserves special attention.
, as well as to raise public awareness on the prevention of thyroid diseases, emphasizing the importance of using iodized salt.
Tyumen State Medical University is a participant in the Priority 2030 program.