Early treatment responses in childhood Graves’ disease: factors affecting the normalization period of thyroid hormones

ABSTRACT Objective Herein, we aimed to reveal the factors affecting the early treatment responses and the normalization process of thyroid hormone levels in childhood Graves’ disease.. Methods This retrospective study included 46 pediatric patients who were diagnosed with Graves’ disease and started treatment during a period of 10 years, and whose at least one of their free T3 (fT3) or free T4 (fT4) levels decreased to the reference range during follow-up. Results The normalization time of fT3 and fT4 were 5 (3–8) and 3.5 (2–7) weeks after the treatment initiation, respectively. Gender, age, pubertal status, presence of goiter, ophthalmopathy or tachycardia, basal thyroid hormone levels, initial dose of methimazole, and addition of beta-blockers did not show an effect on the normalization time of either fT3 or fT4 (p > 0.05). In those under the age of 12 (n = 15) with a high TRAb titer (>10 IU/L), the time for normalization of fT3 was longer (p = 0.024), and in those with ophthalmopathy, this process was longer for fT4 (p = 0.017). Conclusions By these results, we showed that early treatment response and the normalization period of thyroid hormones were not related to the initial treatment dose.