Assessment of thyroid function during the long course of Hashimoto's thyroiditis in children and adolescents

The prognosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) in children and adolescents is not well known and studies reporting long-term outcome of the disease are scarce.

To assess the thyroid hormone status during long-term follow-up and to establish the prognosis of children and adolescents with HT.

One hundred and twenty-nine patients with HT were re-evaluated for thyroid hormone status after a mean follow-up period of 50 months.

Seventy-seven per cent of the euthyroid patients were still euthyroid, while 21.1% of these patients became hypothyroid at the time of re-evaluation. However, 69.5% of hypothyroid patients remained hypothyroid (overt or subclinical) and 30.5% recovered.

HT is a dynamic process. Thyroid functions can show variation during follow-up. Therefore, thyroid function tests should be repeated periodically to detect progression to hypothyroidism in initially euthyroid patients as well as reversibility of hypothyroidism.