Abstract
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.
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