Clinical spectrum of adult onset spontaneous primary hypothyroidism

Objective: Hypothyroidism is a common entity in this part of the world. The objective of this study was to analyse the clinical and endocrine/biochemi cal data of 250 subjects with spontaneous primary hypothyroidism. Methods: Subjects 18 years or older who had thyroid stimulating hormone val ue of >10 mIU/ml were studied for clinical and biochemical features. Results: There was a female predominance, female to male ratio being 3.2. 1 . There was a less frequent occurrence of thyromegaly and the patients were relatively younger. Conclusions: Predominant occurrence in females and less frequent occurrence of thyromegaly suggest a possible autoimmune atrophic thyroiditis as the m ost probable etiology of spontaneous primary hypothyroidism.