

( See Table 2.) In many patients with NTI, drugs administered for treatment may also affect the regulation and metabolism of thyroid hormone levels. Several diseases may be associated with abnormal thyroid function tests.
#Euthyroid sick syndrome free
Depending upon the severity and duration of the NTI, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), free T4, and free T4 index (FTI) also are affected in variable degrees. 1 ( See Figures 1 and 2.) Low serum triiodothyronine (T3) and elevated reverse T3 (rT3) are the most prominent and frequent abnormalities. After recovery from an NTI, abnormal thyroid function tests are usually completely reversible and normalized. These abnormalities result from disturbances in the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis, thyroid hormone binding to serum proteins, tissue uptake of thyroid hormones, and/or thyroid hormone metabolism. Griffin, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas.Įuthyroid sick syndrome is a reversible abnormality of thyroid function tests in the presence of an acute or chronic nonthyroidal illness (NTI) or an altered physiologic state such as starvation. Authors: Sumit Sharma, MD, Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, University of Iowa, Des Moines Preeti Agrawal, MD, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences, North Chicago, IL and Udaya Kabadi, MD, University of Iowa Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, IA, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
