Thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroid diseases in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed type I diabetes

: The objective of the authors was to evaluate the prevalence of TPO Ab and thyroid diseases in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. The examination included 153 patients (85/55.6% girls) from southeast Poland aged 11 months to do 17.4 years (mean age 9.5 +/- 3.9 years). Apart from clinical assessment, all children had determinations made of serum TPO Ab, FT4 and TSH, while thyroid ultra sound was performed in each patients with abnormal thyroid morphology and/or positive TPO Ab titter. Positive TPO Ab was detected in 45 patients (29.4%). In this group 26 had isolated serum TPO Ab elevation, 18 had Hashimoto's disease, 1 Graves's disease. Another 12 children (7.8%) were demonstrated to have euthyroid goiter. Thyroid abnormalities were thus seen in 37.2% children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. No association was demonstrated between the prevalence of thyroid abnormalities and sex. Children with subclinical stage of autoimmune thyreoiditis were significantly younger in comparison to patients with Hashimoto's disease (8.9 +/- 4.2 vs. 12.0 +/- 3.1 years) and had significantly lower serum TPO Ab and TSH levels (314.2 +/- 232.4 vs. 2076.8 +/- 1300.8 U/ml, 1.7 +/- 0.82 vs. 4.1 +/- 2.9 ulU/ml, respectively). Thyroid dysfunction was detected in 7 (4.6%) children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. In comparison to the entire group with positive serum TPO Ab titer in these 7 children the percentage of patients with thyroid dysfunction was significantly higher (15.5%). Six patients were hypothyroid and 1 had hyperthyreosis. The present results justify the need for comprehensive screening for thyroid disorders in all children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes.