A rare cause of fever and icterus: Thyroid crisis

Thyroid crisis is the severe form of hyperthyroidism. The predisposing factors are mostly surgeries and additional diseases.Although the case is rare, the mortality rate is high. Here, we present a thyroid crisis case which implies infectiousdiseases. A 36-year-old female patient admitted to the hospital with high fever, abdominal pain, and unstable mentalstate. Physical examination revealed icterus, tachycardia, and hepatosplenomegaly. Serum free triiodothyronine (FT3),and free thyroxine (FT4) levels were elevated and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was highly suppressed. An infectiousetiology was suspected on admission, but further investigation revealed thyroid crisis. Patients with high fevershould be considered in differential diagnosis of non-infectious causes such as thyroid crisis. In these cases, early andcorrect diagnosis is important for prognosis. . J Microbiol Infect Dis 2013; 3(1): 36-38Key words: Thyroid crisis, fever, icterus, hyperthyroidism