Familial Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

Abstract

Auto immune thyroiditis (AIT) has shown an increased prevalence in Kerala. Various studies conducted showed a significant correlation with hypothyroidism and antibody positivity. The present study was conducted to find the prevalence of thyroid auto antibodies in the immediate relatives of 74 proven AIT patients. Of the 142 relatives screened, 94% showed antibody positivity. 46% of the screened relatives were found to have hypothyroidism (with 15% newly detected cases) and 98.5% of them were antibody positive. All the newly detected cases were antibody positive. The results of our study stress the importance of estimating thyroid auto antibodies and thyroid function tests to detect early asymptomatic hypothyroidism in patients with antibody positivity.