Bronchial Asthma Following Treatment of Congenital Hypothyroidism

A 13 years and eight months old girl with severe short stature (-7.8 SD) and obesity (+52%) was diagnosed as having congenital hypothyroidism resulting from a sublingual thyroid gland. Two weeks after the start of administration of 1-thyroxine (50μg/day) the patient became active. 1-Thyroxine was increased to 75μg/day, but two weeks later wheezing appeared and typical asthmatic attacks were observed. The association of asthma and hyperthyroidism has been known for more than 60 years and there have been several reports on the relation between bronchial asthma and thyroid status. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient who developed, for the first time in her life, asthmatic attacks following treatment of congenital hypothyroidism. Although the combination of these two disorders seems to be extremely rare, supplements of thyroid hormone in patients with congenital hypothyroidism who are diagnosed after the neonatal period should be given with caution.