Background: National guidelines recommend that thyroid function is assessed at diagnosis of type I diabetes (TIDM) and annually thereafter. This paper reports an audit of thyroid surveillance in accordance with this guideline.
Patients: 110 patients (66 males), median age 11.3 (1.2-15.7) years at diagnosis of TIDM, were monitored for 2.3 (0.7-4.2) years.
Results: 21/110 (19.0%) patients had abnormal thyroid function at diagnosis of TIDM. Of these, 16 had normal thyroid function on reassessment after 45 (3-540) days. Abnormalities of thyroid function occurred more commonly in children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) than those who did not have DKA (9/29, 31.0% vs 12/81, 14.8%, p<0.025). At the end of the observation period, five (4.5%) patients had minor abnormalities of thyroid function not requiring treatment and three (2.7%) were treated.
Conclusions: Transient abnormalities of thyroid function are common at diagnosis of TIDM, and therefore, thyroid hormones should not be measured at this time.