Changes in Brain Size with Treatment in Patients with Hyper- or Hypothyroidism
Angela Oatridgea,
Maria L. Barnardb,
Basant K. Puria,
Simon D. Taylor-Robinsona,
Joseph V. Hajnala,
Nadeem Saeeda and
Graeme M. Byddera
a Robert Steiner Magnetic Resonance Unit, Imaging Sciences Department, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, England
b Department of Endocrinology, the Whittington Hospital, Highgate Hill, London, England
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FIG 1. Brain and ventricular changes before and after treatment in a patient with hyperthyroidism.
A, Sagittal T1-weighted image near the midline of the brain.
B, Registered subtraction image. The low-signal-intensity boundaries at the cortex (large arrow) indicate reduced brain size, and the low-signal-intensity seen more centrally (small arrow) indicates ventricular enlargement.
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FIG 2. Correlation of changes in brain and ventricular size with changes in T4 levels (with 95% confidence limits).
A, Increases in brain size were strongly correlated with increases in T4 levels.
B, Reductions in ventricular size were strongly correlated with increases in T4 levels.
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FIG 3. Correlation of changes in brain and ventricular size with changes in T3 levels (with 95% confidence intervals).
A, Brain size increased with increased in T3 levels, but the changes were not significant.
B, Reductions in ventricular size were strongly correlated with increases in T3 levels.
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FIG 4. Correlation of changes in brain and ventricular size with changes in TSH levels. The data formed two distinct groups. After treatment, TSH levels in the hyperthyroid patients either increased by a small amount or not at all. Although initially very high, TSH levels in the hypothyroid patients decreased to the normal range after treatment.
A, Low levels of TSH was correlated with reductions in brain size.
B, Low levels of TSH were correlated with increases in ventricular size.
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