Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Thyroid hormone changes in dogs during and after acute illness
By Corsini, Andrea et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2024·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Total thyroxine, triiodothyronine, and thyrotropin concentrations during acute nonthyroidal illness and recovery in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Nineteen dogs were hospitalized for acute illness and had their thyroid hormone levels checked at various points during their recovery. Most of the dogs showed low levels of the hormone triiodothyronine (tT3) when they were first admitted, but all had normal levels of thyroxine (tT4) early in recovery. While tT4 returned to normal, many dogs continued to have low tT3 levels even weeks after discharge. The study suggests that thyroid testing in dogs recovering from acute illness may not be reliable and should be postponed until they are fully recovered.
People also search for: dog thyroid problems after illness · low t3 in dogs · dog recovery from acute illness · thyroid testing in dogs · dog hormone levels after hospitalization
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Acute illness can result in changes in serum total thyroxine (tT4), total triiodothyronine (tT3), and thyrotropin (TSH) concentrations in euthyroid dogs defined as nonthyroidal illness syndrome, but longitudinal evaluation of these hormones during the recovery phase is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To longitudinally evaluate serum tT4, tT3, and TSH concentrations during the acute phase and recovery from acute illness in dogs. ANIMALS: Nineteen euthyroid client-owned dogs hospitalized for acute illness at a veterinary teaching hospital. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal study. Serum tT4, tT3, and TSH concentrations were measured at the admission (T0), at last day of hospitalization (T1), and during the recovery phase at 3, 7, 14, and 21 days after the discharge (T2, T3, T4, and T5), respectively. RESULTS: tT4 and tT3 were below the reference interval (RI) at T0 in 3 (16%) and 18 (95%) dogs, respectively; tT4 normalized in all dogs early in the recovery phase, while low tT3 persisted at the end of the study in 16 (83%) dogs. Median TSH concentrations were increased at T5 compared with T1 (0.19 ng/mL [range 0.03-0.65] vs 0.11 ng/mL [range (0.05-0.26)], mean difference = 0.09 ng/mL; P = .03). Five (26%) dogs had TSH above the RI at least at 1 time point during the recovery phase. None of the dogs had concurrent low tT4 and high TSH during the study. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In euthyroid dogs acute illness can interfere with evaluation of thyroid function up to 21 days during the recovery phase. Thyroid testing should be avoided or postponed in these dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38654457/