Age-related anti-thyroid antibodies and thyroid abnormalities in Turner syndrome

One hundred pediatric patients with Turner syndrome were studied to determine the correlation between the presence of anti-thyroid antibodies with age and karyotype, and the value of anti-thyroid antibody titers as predictors of subsequent thyroid abnormalities. (54 patients = 45,X; 46 = other karyotypes.) The frequency of positive titers of anti-thyroid antibodies increased linearly with cumulative age. Anti-parietal cell and anti-adrenocortical cell antibodies were not increased in these patients (1.3 and 2.6% respectively). The ability to use positive anti-thyroid antibody titers to predict the development of thyroid abnormalities increased from age 10 years and became statistically significant at ages 13-17 years for the whole group as well as 45,X patients. None of the patients had clinical symptoms of thyroid dysfunction although 22% developed thyroid abnormalities, which included elevated TSH, low T4, and/or goiter.