Lithium-associated hyperthyroidism.

Goiters and hypothyroidism are well-known patient complications of the use of lithium for treatment of bipolar disease. However, the occurrence of lithium-induced hyperthyroidism is a more rare event. Many times, the condition can be confused with a flare of mania.

Spectrum of lithium induced thyroid abnormalities: a current perspective.

Background: Lithium is an integral drug used in the management of acute mania, unipolar and bipolar depression and prophylaxis of bipolar disorders. Thyroid abnormalities associated with treatment with lithium have been widely reported in medical literature to date. These include goitre, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis.

Thyroid disorders in lithium-treated patients.

Background: Little is known about the rate of thyroid disorders prior to lithium treatment, and which patients have a higher risk for developing such disorders during such treatment.

Method: Assessment of the thyroid histories and laboratory results of 209 lithium-treated patients with affective disorders from one catchment area.

Results: Six female patients had thyrotoxicosis before starting lithium, a rate of 4.

Six-year follow-up of thyroid function during lithium treatment.

A cohort of patients at various stages of lithium treatment was followed up for 6 years in order to evaluate the course of thyroid abnormalities. Ultrasonography confirmed that lithium can increase thyroid size, especially in cigarette smokers, and that it can affect the texture of the gland. However, the incidence of clinical hypothyroidism or specific thyroid autoimmunity does not exceed that found in the general population.

Histological features of the thyroid gland in a patient with lithium induced thyrotoxicosis.

A 26 year old woman with lithium induced thyrotoxicosis is reported. The thyrotoxicosis was associated with a non-tender diffuse goitre and a low radioiodine uptake by the gland. The thyrotoxicosis was reversible and remitted on withdrawal of the drug.

[Lithium and its effects on the endocrine system, bones and peripheral nerves--a current review].

Controlled studies in 1990-1992 with Danish, Sardinian, and Hongkong-Chinese patients consistently revealed a prevalence of goiter of about 50% in lithium treated patients. This is far beyond the frequency generally assumed for Germany, the whole country still known to be an endemic goiter area. Hypothyroidism as a side effect of lithium occurs in a clearly different group of patients and is much less frequent, the overall incidence being not substantially different from the incidence in the general population.

Effect of lithium on function and growth of thyroid cells in vitro.

Lithium has been reported to alter thyroid function and cause goiter in some patients. To explain the mechanism of lithium action in the thyroid gland, we studied the effect of lithium on thyroid function and cell growth in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells and on de novo thyroid hormone formation in primary cultures of porcine thyroid follicles. TSH-induced iodide uptake was suppressed at 2 mM lithium in both FRTL-5 cells and porcine follicles.

[Calcitonin and parathyroid hormone secretion and calcium metabolism in patients with diffuse toxic goiter during treatment with lithium carbonate].

Seventy-six patients (6 males and 70 females) with diffuse toxic goiter, stages I-II, received lithium carbonate as a thyrostatic drug. The drug dose ranged from 900 to 1500 g depending on the degree of the disease clinical symptoms. The treatment with lithium lasted 45 days.