Effect of Levothyroxine Treatment on Clinical Symptoms in Hypothyroid Patients with Chronic Urticaria and Thyroid Autoimmunity.
- Author:
Do Hun KIM
1
;
Nam Hee SUNG
;
Ai Young LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Thyroid disease; Thyroxine; Urticaria
- MeSH: Autoantibodies; Autoimmunity*; Graves Disease; Humans; Medical Records; Thyroid Diseases; Thyroid Gland*; Thyroiditis; Thyroxine*; Urticaria*
- From:Annals of Dermatology 2016;28(2):199-204
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Thyroid autoimmunity has been increasingly reported to be associated with chronic urticaria (CU), and the possible clinical benefit of thyroid hormone or anti-thyroid drugs in some CU patients with autoimmune thyroid disease has been studied. However, the effect of thyroid hormone or anti-thyroid drugs on clinical symptoms of CU remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the clinical response of urticaria to the treatment of thyroid dysfunction. METHODS: Medical records of patients with CU evaluated for thyroid autoimmunity and thyroid function were collected and reviewed. RESULTS: Of 184 patients with CU, 43 patients (23.4%) had thyroid autoantibodies and 26 patients (14.1%) had thyroid dysfunction. While none of the five patients with Graves' disease showed any improvement of urticaria after treatment with anti-thyroid drugs, two of the 10 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis showed improved urticaria after being treated with levothyroxine. CONCLUSION: Although levothyroxine treatment was effective in a minority of patients with CU, there may be a causal relationship between CU and thyroid autoimmunity.
