Covid can cause atypical thyroid inflammation
The study, presented virtually at ENDO 2021, indicated that
one-third of the participants still had signs of thyroid inflammation
after three months, even though their thyroid function had normalised.
In
spring 2020, 15 per cent of the Covid-19 patients hospitalised in acute
medicine units in Italy had thyroid hormone alterations due to
multi-factorial causes, including thyroid inflammation. In comparison,
only 1 per cent of hospitalised patients during the same period in 2019
had thyroid hormone alterations.
"People with
thyroiditis, or inflammation of the thyroid gland, triggered by other
viruses usually recover thyroid function in the short term," said lead
researcher Ilaria Muller from the University of Milan in Italy.
"However,
there is a long-term increased risk of permanently reduced thyroid
function, caused by late-onset effects of viral infection, or by the
immune system attacking the thyroid gland," Muller added.
For
the study, the team wanted to find out whether the thyroiditis
associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease,
follows the same pattern as thyroid inflammation caused by other
viruses.
The researchers started a surveillance
programme to monitor the thyroid function of patients every three
months after being hospitalised for moderate to severe Covid-19 disease.
The patients undergo a routine blood and ultrasound testing to monitor
their thyroid function and signs of inflammation.
They
found the thyroiditis in people with moderate to severe Covid-19
disease differs from typical thyroiditis in several ways, the
researchers said.
These include the absence of
neck pain, the presence of mild thyroid dysfunction, higher frequency
among men and the association with severe Covid-19 disease, they added.