title: Correlation and presentation of thyroid functional status with thyroid autoantibodies in long-term follow-up of autoimmune thyroiditis: A study of 116 cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The most common diagnostic finding of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is the presence of antithyroid antibodies. While autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) is a common AITD, aspiration cytology is one of the important diagnostic tools of AT.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 116 AT patients with ultrasound-guided aspiration cytology and then analyzed the correlation between thyroid hormone status and thyroid autoantibodies. This was a retrospective analysis with prospective collection of data with a mean follow-up period of 68.8 ± 37.8 months. The patients were classified as either euthyroid, hypothyroid, or hyperthyroid (HT). Of the 116 patients, 22 were hypothyroid, 37 were euthyroid, and 57 were HT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the follow-up period, 95.5% of the hypothyroid group remained hypothyroid and only one patient improved to euthyroid. In the euthyroid group, 16.2% progressed to hypothyroid and 83.8% remained euthyroid. In the HT group, 8.7% progressed to hypothyroid, 70.2% progressed to euthyroid, and 21.1% remained HT. Most patients with a high titer of thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) will progress to hypothyroid, and patients with a high titer of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor antibody (TRAb) will remain HT. Strong correlations between thyroid functional status and positive number of thyroid autoantibodies were seen in this study. Patients with all the three antibodies positive had a high prevalence of hyperthyroidism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, most patients were HT; this may be because of the early diagnosis and treatment of AT in our clinic. Although antithyroperoxidase antibody (TPOAb) is a hallmark antibody of HT, it cannot predict the initial presentation and clinical outcome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuei-Mei
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan. Electronic address: byh14596@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bie-Yui
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Huang
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jen-Der
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Management, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sherry Yueh-Hsia
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Chan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000097:blood*; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000503:physiopathology; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; C006606:anti-thyroglobulin; C056626:thyroid microsomal antibodies
keywords: TSH receptor antibody; antithyroperoxidase antibody; autoimmune thyroiditis; thyroglobulin antibody; thyroid autoantibodies