Non-thyroidal Illness Syndrome in an Infant With Acute Anorexia and Psychological Stress

Masazumi Miyahara; Kyoko Osaki; Yukihiro Hasegawa

doi:10.7759/cureus.39803

Non-thyroidal Illness Syndrome in an Infant With Acute Anorexia and Psychological Stress

Cureus. 2023 May 31;15(5):e39803. doi: 10.7759/cureus.39803. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Masazumi Miyahara¹, Kyoko Osaki¹, Yukihiro Hasegawa²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Okanami General Hospital, Iga, JPN.
² Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Medical Center, Tokyo, JPN.

Abstract

Non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS), a remarkable ensemble of changes in serum thyroid hormone concentration during acute illness, was first reported in the 1970s. While NTIS is not a form of hypothyroidism, it is characterized by a decrease in serum triiodothyronine (T3) or thyroxine (T4) or both with normal or decreased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Notably, it typically resolves without thyroid hormone replacement therapy. We report a case of paralytic ileus caused by NTIS in an infant with psychological stress. This case illustrates the development of NTIS during psychological stress, which can lead to severe symptoms such as those seen in pathological hypothyroidism.

Keywords: hypothyroidism; infant; non-thyroidal illness syndrome; paralytic ileus; psychologic stress.

Publication types

Case Reports