The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be caused by Graves’ disease:
Eyes and eye appendages (H00-H59).
- Corneal damage due to dehydration in the absence/incomplete closure of the eyelids (lagophthalmos).
- Optic nerve compression (2-5% of patients) – high pressure on the optic nerve that can lead to visual impairment or blindness, as well as color vision impairment
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).
- Coma basedowicum – coma resulting from metabolic derailment in the final stage of thyrotoxic crisis.
- Hyperthyroidism in the fetus (high TRAK antibodies may transplacentally transfer during pregnancy).
- Hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism).
- Recurrence of hyperthyroidism – recurrence of hyperthyroidism.
- Thyrotoxicosis – excessive elevated thyroid levels lead to a life-threatening condition.
- Hypocholesterolemia – decreased cholesterol content in the blood.
Cardiovascular system (I00-I99)
- Cardiac arrhythmias
- Supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (cardiac arrhythmias with a rapid pulse of more than 100 beats per minute and an origin of the arrhythmia above the ventricles)
- Tachyarrhythmia absoluta (TAA; cardiac arrhythmia with a rapid pulse of more than 100 beats per minute and completely irregular heart actions)
- Ventricular tachyarrhythmias (rare; cardiac arrhythmia with rapid pulse of more than 100 beats per minute and an origin of the arrhythmia in the ventricles)
- Atrial fibrillation (VHF)
Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)
- Anxiety – positively associated with disease duration but not with thyroid function or thyroid autoimmunity.
- Depressive symptoms – positively associated with disease duration, but not with thyroid function or thyroid autoimmunity.
Prognostic factors
- Men worse prognosis than for women.
- Prognostic factors for
- lasting remission under thyrostatic medication (inhibition of thyroid function) are:
- Low thyroid (SD) volumes.
- Low levels of the TSH receptor antibody (TRAK).
- increased risk of recurrence have patients with
- Age < 40 years with larger SD (> 40 ml).
- Initially and persistently high TSH receptor antibodies (TRAK).
- Florid endocrine orbitopathy (EO).
- lasting remission under thyrostatic medication (inhibition of thyroid function) are:
- TSH receptor antibody level six months after thyrostatic therapy: > 10 IU/l → earlier definitive therapy indicated (probability of success with continuation of thyrostatic therapy only 3%).
