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. 2021 Aug 15;60(16):2693-2696.
doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.6975-20. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Painless Thyroiditis Presenting with Headache

Tsubasa Takizawa  1 , Isao Kurihara  2 , Norihiro Suzuki  1 , Jin Nakahara  1 , Mamoru Shibata  1
Affiliations

Painless Thyroiditis Presenting with Headache

Tsubasa Takizawa et al. Intern Med. .

Abstract

Although headache attributed to hypothyroidism is coded within The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition, an association between headache and thyrotoxicosis (hyperthyroidism) is mentioned only in the appendix. Reports on relevant cases are too scarce to establish a causal relationship. A young man with a history of migraine with aura arrived at our headache clinic with a 10-day history of headache and weight loss. Brain MRI revealed normal findings. Blood tests revealed thyrotoxicosis. A test for thyroid-related antibodies was negative. Thus, the patient was diagnosed with painless thyroiditis. The patient's headache resolved as his thyroid hormone levels decreased. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of headache exaggerated by painless thyrotoxicosis.

Keywords: migraine; painless thyroiditis; thyrotoxicosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).

Figures

Figure.
Figure.
The time course of headache and the thyroid function. The light gray shadow indicates the normal range for each hormone. Headaches started to improve at approximately 1 month after the onset of symptoms. Painless thyroiditis was diagnosed at 1.5 months after the onset, and atenolol was used for 3 weeks. The thyroid function improved and reached the normal range at 5 months after the onset of symptoms. fT3: free triiodothyronine, fT4: free thyroxine, TG: thyroglobulin, TSH: thyroid-stimulating hormone
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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