COMEDK 2007 MCQ Answer 166

The correct answer is A


Thyroid storm is a rare and potentially fatal complication of hyperthyroidism. It typically occurs in patients with untreated or partially treated thyrotoxicosis who experience a precipitating event such as surgery, infection, or trauma.

Surgery - Now uncommon secondary to preventative measures, manipulation of the thyroid gland during thyroidectomy historically caused a flood of hormone release, often resulting in highly toxic blood levels. Exacerbations of thyrotoxicosis are still seen in patients taken too soon to surgery but are unusual in the antithyroid drug-controlled patient.

The decreased incidence of thyroid storm can be largely attributed. to the improved methods of diagnosis and therapy available today. In most cases, thyrotoxicosis is recognized before extreme debilitation occurs and is treated. by measures of predictable therapeutic value. Patients are routinely made euthyroid before surgery or treatment with 131-I. Under present-day therapy, using thiocarbamides, the glands have only minimal amounts of stored hormone, in contrast to the iodized gland facing the surgeons of six decades ago. Postoperative storm, formerly the most frequent kind of storm, has now been largely eliminated.