Clinical relevance of thyroid-stimulating autoantibodies in pediatric graves' disease-a multicenter study.

2014

Context and Objective: The incidence of TSH receptor (TSHR) stimulating autoantibodies (TSAbs) in pediatric Graves' disease (GD) is controversial. This large, multicenter study evaluated the clinical relevance of TSAbs in children with GD both with Graves' orbitopathy (GO) and without orbital disease. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study. Setting: Sera were collected in seven American and European academic referral centers and evaluated in a central laboratory. Patients and Samples: A total of 422 serum samples from 157 children with GD, 101 control individuals with other thyroid and nonthyroid autoimmune diseases, and 50 healthy children were studied. Main Outcome Me…