title: Surviving the storm: two cases of thyroid storm successfully treated with plasmapheresis.
abstract: Thyroid storm is a rare, but critical, illness that can lead to multiorgan failure and carries a high death rate. The following case series describes two adult men with Graves' disease who presented in thyroid storm and either failed or could not tolerate conventional medical management. However, both patients responded well to plasmapheresis, which resulted in clinical and biochemical stabilisation of their disease processes. The treatment option of plasmapheresis should be considered as a stabilising measure, especially when patients have failed or cannot tolerate conventional therapy. Plasmapheresis leads to amelioration of symptoms and a significant decline in thyroid hormone levels, providing a window to treat definitively with thyroidectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine/Endocrinology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Aubrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carhill
authors.forename: Absalon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Ronak
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lakhia
authors.forename: Ramaswami
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nalini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010956:Plasmapheresis; D013958:Thyroid Crisis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D013965:Thyroidectomy
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones