Turner's syndrome and thyroid disease: A transverse study of pediatric patients in Brazil

An increased prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) has been descr ibed in Turner's syndrome (TS), but the extent of this association is still controversial. Some studies also suggest that AITD is more frequent among patients with X-isochromosome. In order to determine the prevalence of AITD among girls with TS, and to look for an association with age and karyotype , we evaluated 71 patients with a mean age of 11.4 years (range 0-19.9), 15 .5% (11/71) were hypothyroid, 17 (23.9%) mere positive for thyroid peroxida se (TPO) and/or thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies, and 24 (33.8%) had thyromega ly. No abnormality was observed before 4 years, and the highest frequencies were observed after 16 years. There were no significant differences concer ning thyroid findings among patients with a 45,X karyotype, mosaics, and st ructural rearrangements. Half of the patients (35/71) exhibited one or more abnormalities, which demonstrates the importance of careful evaluation of thyroid function in all girls with TS.