Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism
Authors: Hasnae Guerrouj, Ghizlane Ennibi
Background: Severe acute myxedematous psychosis, or myxedema madness, is a rare and serious psychiatric complication of hypothyroidism. It is most often misdiagnosed, but it remains reversible after treatment with thyroid hormones. Case Presentation: We report a case of a patient without a known past medical history who underwent total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma. During her withdrawal from thyroid hormone therapy to perform a diagnostic radioiodine wholebody scintigraphy, she presented with anxiety, delirium, and hallucinations, culminating in a suicide attempt. Laboratory testing revealed a high sensible-thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) value of 35 µIU/ml. The patient was hospitalized in a psychiatric unit, where she received antipsychotic medication and was started on thyroid hormones. After a week, there was a dramatic improvement. Psychiatric symptoms were completely gone a month later justifying the discontinuation of antipsychotics. Recombinant human TSH (rh-TSH) was necessary injected before radioiodine therapy to avoid thyroid hormone therapy suppression and to prevent a second episode of acute psychosis. Conclusion: rh-TSH interest is both in the pre Ira therapy stimulation and for the post-treatment monitoring of patients with thyroid cancer, and helps avoiding hormonal treatment suppression.
Keywords: Myxedema, psychosis, hypothyroidism, carcinoma, rhTSH.
Authors
Correspondence to:
Hasnae Guerrouj, Nuclear medicine department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University Mohammed V of Rabat, Morocco guerroujh@yahoo.fr
Publication history:
Revised 21 Apr 2023
Accepted 21 May 2023
Published online 01 Aug 2023
Published in print 09 Aug 2023
Guerrouj H, Ennibi G. Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. EJMCR. 2023; 7(5): 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj H, Ennibi G. Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. https://www.ejmcr.com/?mno=302656922 [Access: September 22, 2023]. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj H, Ennibi G. Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. EJMCR. 2023; 7(5): 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj H, Ennibi G. Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. EJMCR. (2023), [cited September 22, 2023]; 7(5): 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj, H. & Ennibi, . G. (2023) Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. EJMCR, 7 (5), 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj, Hasnae, and Ghizlane Ennibi. 2023. Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. European Journal of Medical Case Reports, 7 (5), 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj, Hasnae, and Ghizlane Ennibi. "Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism." European Journal of Medical Case Reports 7 (2023), 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj, Hasnae, and Ghizlane Ennibi. "Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism." European Journal of Medical Case Reports 7.5 (2023), 115-117. Print. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271
Guerrouj, H. & Ennibi, . G. (2023) Severe acute myxedematous psychosis; rare complication of hypothyroidism. European Journal of Medical Case Reports, 7 (5), 115-117. doi:
10.24911/ejmcr/173-1675543271