Propylthiouracil

Propylthiouracil (PTU) is a medication used to treat hyperthyroidism. This includes hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease and toxic multinodular goiter. In a thyrotoxic crisis it is generally more effective than methimazole. Otherwise it is typically only used when methimazole, surgery, and radioactive iodine is not possible. It is taken by mouth. Propylthiouracil (PTU) is a medication used to treat hyperthyroidism. This includes hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease and toxic multinodular goiter. In a thyrotoxic crisis it is generally more effective than methimazole. Otherwise it is typically only used when methimazole, surgery, and radioactive iodine is not possible. It is taken by mouth. Common side effects include itchiness, hair loss, swelling, vomiting, muscle pains, numbness, and headache. Other severe side effects include liver problems and low blood cell counts. Use during pregnancy may harm the baby. Propylthiouracil is in the antithyroid family of medications. It works by decreasing the amount of thyroid hormone produced by the thyroid gland and blocking the conversion of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3). Propylthiouracil came into medical use in the 1940s. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about 3.62 USD a month. In the United Kingdom a month costs the NHS about 52.51 pounds. In the United States the wholesale price is 38.34 USD per month. Propylthiouracil is generally well tolerated, with side effects occurring in one of every 100 patients. The most common side effects are related to the skin and include rash, itching, hives, abnormal hair loss, and skin pigmentation. Other common side effects are swelling, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, loss of taste, joint or muscle aches, numbness and headache, allergic reactions, and hair whitening. Its notable side effects include a risk of agranulocytosis and aplastic anemia. On 3 June 2009, the FDA published an alert 'notifying healthcare professionals of the risk of serious liver injury, including liver failure and death, with the use of propylthiouracil.' As a result, propylthiouracil is no longer recommended in non-pregnant adults and in children as the front line antithyroid medication. One possible side effect is agranulocytosis, a decrease of white blood cells in the blood. Symptoms and signs of agranulocytosis include infectious lesions of the throat, the gastrointestinal tract, and skin with an overall feeling of illness and fever. A decrease in blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) also may occur. Since platelets are important for the clotting of blood, thrombocytopenia may lead to problems with excessive bleeding. Side effects are suspected and the drug is sometimes discontinued if the patient complains of recurrent episodes of sore throat. Another life-threatening side effect is sudden, severe, fulminant liver failure resulting in death or liver transplantation, which occurs in up to 1 in 10,000 people taking propylthiouracil. Unlike agranulocytosis which most commonly occurs in the first three months of therapy, this side effect may occur at any time during treatment. Propylthiouracil is classified as Drug Class D in pregnancy. Class D signifies there is positive evidence of human fetal risk. The maternal benefit may outweigh fetal risk in life-threatening situations. PTU is preferred over methimazole (which is also a class D) only in the first trimester of pregnancy and in women who may become pregnant because of the increased risk of teratogenicity of methimazole during critical organogenesis. In the second and third trimester, this risk is diminished and methimazole is preferred to avoid the risk of liver complications from PTU in the mother. The primary effect on the fetus from transplacental passage of PTU is the production of a mild hypothyroidism when the drug is used close to term. This usually resolves within a few days without treatment. The hypothyroid state may be observed as a goiter in the newborn, and is the result of increased levels of fetal pituitary thyrotropin. The incidence of fetal goiter after PTU treatment in reported cases is approximately 12%.