Relapse of Graves' disease in Chinese children: a retrospective cohort study

Graves' disease (GD) among children has attracted wide attention. However, data on long-term follow-up are scarce, especially in China. This study aimed to investigate the prognosis after regular treatments of GD and to identify possible influencing factors.

A total of 204 newly diagnosed GD children in the Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between 2013 and 2019 were included in this study. The cases involved were divided into remission group, relapse group, and continuing treatment group according to therapy outcomes. Relationships between prognosis and possible influencing factors in remission and relapse groups were analyzed.

All 204 cases were treated with methimazole at presentation with GD. Due to severe complications, 4 (2.0%) cases changed medication to propylthiouracil. Of all the GD children included, 79 (38.7%) had remission, and 40 (50.6%) relapsed after remission. For each additional month before free thyroxine fell into the reference range with treatment, the risk of relapse increased 1.510 times (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=2.510, 95%CI: 1.561-4.034) compared to those in the remission group. On the contrary, the risk of relapse was reduced by 0.548 times for each additional hour of sleep duration per day (adjusted OR=0.452, 95%CI: 0.232-0.879).

GD children have a high relapse rate after remission, and most of them occur within 1 year. Thyroid function should be reexamined regularly after drug withdrawal. The response to medication and lifestyle of GD children may affect the prognosis.