Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome-associated Graves disease in HIV-infected patients: clinical characteristics and response to radioactive iodine therapy.

Objectives: We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and the response to radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome-associated Graves disease (IRIS-GD) in comparison to Graves disease (GD) seen in HIV-uninfected patients.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients treated with RAI for GD. We obtained clinical, biochemical and HIV-related information of patients from their medical records. We compared patient characteristics and response to RAI treatment between patients with IRIS-GD and GD seen in HIV-uninfected patients.

Results: A total of 253 GD patients, including 51 patients with IRIS-GD, were included. Among IRIS-GD patients, CD4 cell nadir was 66 cells/µL (range: 37-103) with a peak HIV viral load of 60 900 copies/mL (range: 36 542-64 500). At the time of diagnosis of IRIS-GD, all patients had a completely suppressed HIV viraemia with a CD4 cell count of 729 cells/µL (range: 350-1279). The median interval between the commencement of HIV treatment and the onset of GD was 63 months. At 3 months follow-up, the proportion of patients with IRIS-GD achieving a successful RAI treatment outcome (euthyroid/hypothyroid state) was lower than that of HIV-uninfected patients (35.3% vs. 63.4%, respectively; p < 0.001). The response rate remained lower (60.8%) among patients with IRIS GD than among HIV-uninfected GD patients (80.2%, p = 0.004) at 6 months follow-up. After correcting for differences in age, gender and pre-treatment thyroid-stimulating hormone level, there was no significant difference in RAI treatment response between the two groups.

Conclusions: After correcting for possible confounders, the response to RAI treatment was not different between patients with IRIS-GD and GD in HIV-uninfected patients.