Available online 2 February 2023

Incidence of Graves Disease (GD) in youth doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Severity of GD increased during the pandemic with more symptomatic presentations.

More youth required beta blockade at time of diagnosis.

Graves disease (GD), an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, is likely caused by a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. Recent data suggests that Coronavirus-19 disease may be associated with development of autoimmune disease. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and characteristics of new GD diagnoses in youth prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We performed a retrospective chart review of all new GD diagnoses in patients 0-18 years of age diagnosed at a tertiary care pediatric hospital between 1/1/2018-12/31/21.

Over a 4-year period, 51 patients were diagnosed with new onset GD. We observed an increased incidence in new onset GD during the pandemic compared to the two prior years (p=0.01). During the pandemic period, heart rates (p=0.03) as well as systolic (p=0.005) and diastolic (p= 0.01) blood pressures were higher at initial evaluation, patients more frequently reported palpitations (p=0.03) and tremors (p=0.04), and an increased proportion of patients required beta-blockade treatment at diagnosis (p=0.002). The percentage of patients requiring thionamide treatment and thionamide doses were similar over time.

We identified a rise in new onset pediatric GD diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, youth had increased severity of symptoms and more frequently required beta-blockade treatment at diagnosis. Further study of the relationship between COVID-19 and autoimmune thyroid disease is needed.

Graves disease

hyperthyroidism

COVID-19

© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the AACE.