When the thyroid gland is functioning, it produces either insufficient or excessive amount of hormones. Imbalance of these components in the human blood provokes subclinical thyrotoxicosis - a pathological condition in which the level of TSH is significantly reduced at normal T3 and T4.
Subclinical thyrotoxicosis - causes
Quite often, this disease occurs due to an overdose of therapeutic drugs for the therapy of thyroid cancer or hypothyroidism . Other factors include:
- toxic multinodular goiter;
- Graves' syndrome;
- administration of (exogenous) thyroid hormones;
- toxic adenoma;
- drugs and contrast medications that contain iodine;
- subacute, painless thyroiditis.
Subclinical hyperthyroidism - symptoms
This form of the disease practically does not cause complaints in patients, it can be diagnosed exclusively by blood analysis: a significantly reduced concentration of the hormone TSH at the level of T3 and T4 is within the norm. Moreover, after appropriate therapy, the nature of changes in the thyroid gland also has no clinical manifestations, the regression of the thyrotoxicosis is determined through laboratory tests.
Subclinical thyrotoxicosis - treatment
The feasibility of therapeutic measures in the described type of disease is still in question. Most endocrinologists recommend not to start treatment until thyrotoxicosis does not lead to persistent disturbances in the body and does not go over into a manifest form.
If the subclinical type of pathology developed against the background of another disease, it makes sense to conduct therapy with thyreostatics - drugs that help raise the level of TSH to normal values. This method is especially relevant for Graves' disease and for
Among the radical methods of treatment is widely used surgery to remove the damaged part of the thyroid gland.
Subclinical thyrotoxicosis in pregnancy
As a rule, therapy for expectant mothers is not carried out, given the fact that the disease regresses in the second half of the term. Therefore, the use of thyreostatics in this case is unjustified.
Nevertheless, after the birth the disease must recur and will require intensive replacement therapy to normalize the level of the hormone TSH .