People experiencing inflammation of the thyroid gland during acute COVID-19 disease may continue to have subacute thyroiditis months later even if thyroid function normalizes, reveals new research.

Additionally, the thyroiditis appears to be different from the thyroid inflammation that is caused by other viruses, said Ilaria Muller, while presenting data at the virtual ENDO 2021 meeting. Investigators described patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 in July last year. About 15% of these had thyrotoxicosis from atypical subacute thyroiditis, compared to just 1% of a comparison group that was admitted to the same intensive care units during spring 2019.

The atypical thyroiditis noted in COVID-19 patients was not associated with neck pain and was found to impact more men than women. It was associated with low TSH and free-triiodothyronine (T3) levels, as well as normal or raised free thyroxine (T4). An evaluation of 51 patients 3 months following hospitalization for moderate-to-severe COVID-19 revealed normalization of both inflammatory markers and thyroid function; however, on imaging, one-third of patients still had focal hypoechoic areas indicating thyroiditis… (Medscape)