SYMPTOMATOLOGY OF GRAVES-DISEASE AND PLUMMERS-DISEASE IN RELATION TO AGE AND THYROID-HORMONE LEVEL

In order to relate the clinical expression of Graves' disease and Plum mer's disease to age and thyroid hormone level, we prospectively studi ed 39 patients with Graves' disease and 26 patients with Plummer's dis ease using a standardized clinical score. Multiple regression analyses were performed with the clinical score as dependent variable and FT4I , age and diagnosis as independent variables. Our results show that pa tients with Graves' disease tend to have more signs and symptoms than patients with Plummer's disease. In addition, we found a positive corr elation between the clinical score and FT4I. We did not find an age de pendence of the clinical score, after controlling for diagnosis and FT 4I. The age dependence reported by other authors is mainly due to the higher prevalence of Graves' disease among younger age groups in contr ast to Plummer's disease.