14
Views
15
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

An Increased Incidence of Thyroid Antibodies in Patients with Turner's Syndrome and their First Degree Relatives

, , , , &
Pages 47-52 | Received 11 Jun 1996, Accepted 01 Sep 1996, Published online: 07 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested that there may be a link between Turner's syndrome and autoimmunity. The numbers involved in these studies have tended to be small and few studies have included family members. This study has compared the incidence of thyroid antibodies in the serum of 60 patients with Turner' syndrome and 50 of their mothers with 127 controls. Total T4 and TSH levels were also measured.

Of the 60 patients with Turner's syndrome 18 (30%) were positive for either thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and/or thyroglobulin antibodies. The peak incidence of thyroid antibodies occurred at 13 years of age. 11 (22%) of the mothers were also antibody positive. The incidence of thyroid antibodies was significantly higher in both the patients with Turner's Syndrome (30 vs 1.7% p < 0.001) and their mothers (22 vs 6.6% p < 0.05) than in the control groups.

The increased incidence of thyroid antibodies found in these patients and their mothers confirms that there is an association between Turner's Syndrome and autoimmunity. However unlike previous studies we found more patients were positive for thyroglobulin than TPO antibodies.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.