ATA Centennial Fireside Chat Expert Review Series: Personal Reflections on the History of Graves' Disease Treatment

Abstract

This fireside chat is a part of the ATA's Centennial Series celebrating 100 years of the ATA. Drs. Dawn Elfenbein and Terry Davies discuss the evolution in our understanding and treatment of Graves' disease. They discuss how in the 19th century it was difficult to understand why some people with goiters could possibly be short of anything when others seemed to have gained some function. This led to surgeries being performed to remove the goiters, but then patients who underwent surgery suffered from tetany and myxedema, leading to the later discovery of the thyroid hormones and even later the role of the parathyroids. They discuss historic physicians and surgeons such as Drs. Victor Horsley, Theodore Kocher, and George Murray, who treated myxedema with thyroid transplants and thyroid extract, and the Clinical Society of London Report on Myxedema in 1888 that changed the whole concept of thyroidology by finally confirming thyroid deficiency as the cause of myxedema that in turn led to implicating the thyroid as also being involved in Graves' disease. Be sure to checkout Dr. Davies and Elfenbein's continued conversation in Supplementary Video SV1. No competing financial interests exist. Runtime of video: 22 mins