Thyrotoxicosis associated with the use of amiodarone: the utility of ultrasound in patient management.

Abstract

Amiodarone is an anti-arrhythmic drug that commonly affects the thyroid, causing hypothyroidism or thyrotoxicosis. Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is caused by excessive thyroid hormone biosynthesis in response to iodine load in autonomously functioning thyroid glands with pre-existing nodular goitre or underlying Graves' disease (type 1 or AIT 1), or by a destructive thyroiditis typically occurring in normal glands (type 2 or AIT 2). Indeterminate or mixed forms are also recognized. The distinction is clinically useful as AIT 1 is treated predominantly with thionamides, whereas AIT 2 is managed with glucocorticoids. We review the tools used to differentiate type 1 from type 2 thyrotoxicosis, with specific reference to the imaging modalities used.