ABNORMAL THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE (TSH) LEVELS IN ADULTS FOLLOWINGALLOGENEIC BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTS

Thyroid function abnormalities in 270 adult patients post-BMT are desc ribed, Various conditioning regimens were used and the effects of thre e TBI and one chemotherapy only based regimens are compared, The overa ll incidence of elevated TSH is 8.9; 3.8, 7.2 and 16.7% in those patie nts who received 300, 500 and 1200 cGy respectively and 11.7% in those who received BuCy conditioning. Three cases (1.1%) of clinial hypothy roidism were observed, Compensated hypothyroidism defined as an elevat ed TSH in the presence of normal T3, T4 levels and transient in some c ases, was the most common finding. All but four cases occurred in the first 2 years after BMT, In the remaining four, three occurred in pati ents with chronic GVHD, The results reported here show a lower prevale nce than observed in most other reviews, particularly for children, A trend was observed with increasing radiation doses, The results are no t significantly different from those we observed in the BuCy regimen.