Hypothyroidism: Diagnostic challenge in children: Case report

Abstract

Hypothyroidism is an endocrine disorder with a wide range of symptoms and multi-organ involvement. Almost all cells of the body have receptors for thyroid hormones, and the clinical picture of hypothyroidism is a result of the reduced effect of thyroid hormones on target organs and can be nonspecific, especially in children and adolescents, and thus may remain unrecognized for a longer period of time. Pericardial effusion, which occurs with a frequency of 10%-30% in adult patients with hypothyroidism, is very rare in children. Pericardial effusion, as well as all other symptoms of hypothyroidism, is reversible after the initiation of hormone replacement therapy. This is a report of a girl in whom pericardial effusion was the most significant manifestation of autoimmune thyroiditis, and in whom, at the time of diagnosis, other disorders due to the prolonged effect of low levels of thyroid hormones on target organs were also observed.