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Case Reports
. 2011 Aug 11:2011:bcr0420114163.
doi: 10.1136/bcr.04.2011.4163.

Paraneoplastic hyperthyroidism

Sibylle Kohler  1 , Oliver Tschopp, Emanuel Jacky, Christoph Schmid
Affiliations
Case Reports

Paraneoplastic hyperthyroidism

Sibylle Kohler et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

The authors describe a 31-year-old male with a metastatic germ cell tumour and massively elevated human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) levels who presented with hyperthyroidism. As HCG is structurally closely related to thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), it can activate the TSH receptor; grossly elevated levels may result in hyperthyroidism. After initiation of chemotherapy, HCG levels decreased and hyperthyroidism resolved.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time course of total HCG, TSH, free T4 and free T3. Time point zero indicates start of the first chemotherapy cycle. The first blood sample was obtained 3 days before and the second 7 days after initiation of chemotherapy. Grey areas represent the reference range.
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