title: Free triiodothyronine in sera of acutely ill general medical patients: a prognostic indicator?
abstract: We measured free triiodothyronine (FT3), thyrotropin (TSH), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in sera of 39 acutely ill medical patients who died within three months of admission and 39 age- and sex-matched control patients selected at random from a total of 294 acute medical admissions. Serum FT3 in nonsurvivors (1.91 +/- 1.51 pmol/L) was significantly lower than that in survivors (3.01 +/- 1.3 pmol/L, P less than 0.01) and the CRP in nonsurvivors (54.6 +/- 59.2 mg/L) was significantly higher than in survivors (43.6 +/- 59.5 mg/L, P less than 0.05). There was no difference in plasma TSH between the two groups. The estimated odds ratio relating death to a plasma FT3 value less than 1.0 pmol/L on admission was 17 (highly significant: P less than 0.001). We conclude that plasma FT3 may be a useful prognostic indicator in acutely ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T.
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Swaminathan
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014284:Triiodothyronine; D013972:Thyrotropin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein