Pediatrics

Biography

Biography: Juan Pablo Hayes Dorado: Poster 6

Abstract

Introduction:
Some patients receiving antituberculous drugs may develop thyroid disorders; hypothyroidism has been reported in patients receiving ethionamide and rifampicin.
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the levels of thyroid hormones in pediatric patients diagnosed with tuberculosis at the beginning and at the end of antituberculous therapy.
Material and methods:
Prospective study. Study of patients less than 15 years of age, diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, who received antituberculous therapy: "Strictly Supervised Shortened Treatment" (DOTS), of two phases; the first of 52 doses of isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide; the second phase of 104 doses of isonacid and rifampicin. Plasma levels of thyrotropin (TSH), thyroxine (T4), free thyroxine (FT4), and triiodothyronine (T3) were determined at the beginning of treatment, three months after and at the end of antituberculous therapy.
Results:
We studied 19 patients who completed the DOTS. All of them were euthyroid at the beginning of antituberculous therapy. In 3 children (15.8% of the total) the non-thyroidal illness syndrome was diagnosed (T3 levels low with normal values of the other hormones), at 3 and 6 months of treatment; 4 patients (21.0%) presented subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH levels elevated with normal values of FT4, T4 and T3), at the end of therapy; in the remaining 12 patients (63.2%), hormone levels analyzed were normal.
Discussion:
It is important to analyze the thyroid profile in patients receiving antituberculous treatment, since they may develop non-thyroidal illness syndrome or hypothyroidism.