Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Thyroid function tests (TFTs) is a collective term for blood tests used to check the function of the thyroid. [1] TFTs may be requested if a patient is thought to suffer from hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) or hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), or to monitor the effectiveness of either thyroid-suppression or hormone replacement therapy.
Subclinical hypothyroidism is a biochemical diagnosis characterized by an elevated serum TSH level, but with a normal serum free thyroxine level. [48] [49] [50] The incidence of subclinical hypothyroidism is estimated to be 3-15% and a higher incidence is seen in elderly people, females and those with lower iodine levels. [48]
The therapeutic target range TSH level for patients on treatment ranges between 0.3 and 3.0 μIU/mL. [18] For hypothyroid patients on thyroxine, measurement of TSH alone is generally considered sufficient. An increase in TSH above the normal range indicates under-replacement or poor compliance with therapy.
The most useful marker of thyroid gland function is serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. TSH levels are determined by a classic negative feedback system in which high levels of T3 and T4 suppress the production of TSH, and low levels of T3 and T4 increase the production of TSH. TSH levels are thus often used by doctors as a screening ...
A reference range is usually defined as the set of values 95 percent of the normal population falls within (that is, 95% prediction interval). [2] It is determined by collecting data from vast numbers of laboratory tests.
Affected patients may have normal, low, or slightly elevated TSH depending on the spectrum and phase of illness. Total T4 and T3 levels may be altered by binding protein abnormalities, and medications. Reverse T3 levels are generally increased, while FT3 is decreased. FT4 levels may have a transient increase, before becoming subnormal during ...
Thyroid's secretory capacity (G T, also referred to as thyroid's incretory capacity, maximum thyroid hormone output, T4 output or, if calculated from serum levels of thyrotropin and thyroxine, as SPINA-GT [a]) is the maximum stimulated amount of thyroxine that the thyroid can produce in a given time-unit (e.g. one second).
The TSH, in turn, stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone until levels in the blood return to normal. Thyroid hormone exerts negative feedback control over the hypothalamus as well as anterior pituitary, thus controlling the release of both TRH from hypothalamus and TSH from anterior pituitary gland.