Cargando…

Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis

Myxedema coma is a rare life-threatening emergency that usually presents in the elderly during the winter months. The neurological changes caused by uncontrolled hypothyroidism may precipitate seizure activity and its deleterious consequences. A 65-year-old homeless man with a history of non-Hodgkin...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Somoza-Cano, Francisco J, Al Armashi, Abdul Rahman, Patell, Kanchi, Hammad, Faris, Ravakhah, Keyvan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35165605
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.21155
_version_ 1784648899802169344
author Somoza-Cano, Francisco J
Al Armashi, Abdul Rahman
Patell, Kanchi
Hammad, Faris
Ravakhah, Keyvan
author_facet Somoza-Cano, Francisco J
Al Armashi, Abdul Rahman
Patell, Kanchi
Hammad, Faris
Ravakhah, Keyvan
author_sort Somoza-Cano, Francisco J
collection PubMed
description Myxedema coma is a rare life-threatening emergency that usually presents in the elderly during the winter months. The neurological changes caused by uncontrolled hypothyroidism may precipitate seizure activity and its deleterious consequences. A 65-year-old homeless man with a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in remission for over 20 years presented to the emergency department (ED) following an episode of syncope. His physical examination was remarkable for hypothermia and bradycardia. Shortly after the admission, he had two tonic-clonic seizures with sphincter relaxation and no recovery between the convulsions. His thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level was 304 uIU/ml. He received appropriate treatment for his condition and was discharged after a full recovery. This case illustrates the catastrophic consequences of long-term uncontrolled hypothyroidism. A high index of clinical suspicion is essential for beginning prompt hormone supplementation in such patients.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8833291
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Cureus
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-88332912022-02-13 Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis Somoza-Cano, Francisco J Al Armashi, Abdul Rahman Patell, Kanchi Hammad, Faris Ravakhah, Keyvan Cureus Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism Myxedema coma is a rare life-threatening emergency that usually presents in the elderly during the winter months. The neurological changes caused by uncontrolled hypothyroidism may precipitate seizure activity and its deleterious consequences. A 65-year-old homeless man with a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in remission for over 20 years presented to the emergency department (ED) following an episode of syncope. His physical examination was remarkable for hypothermia and bradycardia. Shortly after the admission, he had two tonic-clonic seizures with sphincter relaxation and no recovery between the convulsions. His thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level was 304 uIU/ml. He received appropriate treatment for his condition and was discharged after a full recovery. This case illustrates the catastrophic consequences of long-term uncontrolled hypothyroidism. A high index of clinical suspicion is essential for beginning prompt hormone supplementation in such patients. Cureus 2022-01-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8833291/ /pubmed/35165605 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.21155 Text en Copyright © 2022, Somoza-Cano et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism
Somoza-Cano, Francisco J
Al Armashi, Abdul Rahman
Patell, Kanchi
Hammad, Faris
Ravakhah, Keyvan
Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title_full Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title_fullStr Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title_full_unstemmed Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title_short Status Epilepticus as a Life-Threatening Manifestation of Myxedema Crisis
title_sort status epilepticus as a life-threatening manifestation of myxedema crisis
topic Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35165605
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.21155
work_keys_str_mv AT somozacanofranciscoj statusepilepticusasalifethreateningmanifestationofmyxedemacrisis
AT alarmashiabdulrahman statusepilepticusasalifethreateningmanifestationofmyxedemacrisis
AT patellkanchi statusepilepticusasalifethreateningmanifestationofmyxedemacrisis
AT hammadfaris statusepilepticusasalifethreateningmanifestationofmyxedemacrisis
AT ravakhahkeyvan statusepilepticusasalifethreateningmanifestationofmyxedemacrisis