Tests for people with confirmed primary hypothyroidism: Thyroid disease: assessment and management

Excerpt

The commonest cause of hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, which is associated with the presence of circulating thyroid antibodies. Therefore, tests for thyroid autoantibodies, including Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) and Thyroglobulin antibody (TG-Ab), may be useful to confirm autoimmunity as the cause in a patient with hypothyroidism. Furthermore, in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, the presence of thyroid antibodies (in particular, TPO-Ab) is associated with an increased risk of progression to overt hypothyroidism. Despite the potential value of testing thyroid antibodies in hypothyroidism, there is uncertainty in terms of which antibodies should be tested when determining the cause of hypothyroidism, when the test should be carried out and if the test should be repeated. Currently, there is no national standard on the topic, resulting in a wide variation in the clinical practice.