Case study: COVID-19 patient with autoimmune adrenal insufficiency and hypothyroidism
This is the first report of a pediatric patient with COVID-19 who developed autoimmune thyroid and cortisol deficiency, although not confirmed that it was related or triggered by the COVID-19 infection.
There is emerging speculation that the inflammatory state associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection may trigger autoimmune conditions, but no causal link has been established. In a case study, published in Hormone Research in Paediatrics, researchers at Children’s National Hospital report a 14-year-old girl admitted with COVID-19 and symptoms of MIS-C who was then recognized to have autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS2). This is the first report of a pediatric patient with COVID-19 who developed autoimmune thyroid and cortisol deficiency, although not confirmed that it was related or triggered by the COVID-19 infection.
What this means
APS2 is rare in children and has an incidence of 1 in 20,000. Until now, there have only been reports of autoimmune thyroiditis and adrenal insufficiency in adults post-COVID-19.
“The role of COVID-19 in the etiopathogenesis of APS2 in this case remains unclear,” says Myrto Flokas, M.D., endocrinology fellow at Children’s National Hospital and first author of the case study. “But we suspect that it may have contributed to the rapid progression and severe clinical manifestations of both adrenal insufficiency and hypothyroidism leading to the presentation akin to MIS-C.”
The hold-up in the field
COVID-19 has been reported to affect the immune system and may serve as a trigger for autoimmune diseases similar to other viral infections.
“This is a case-report and while we cannot draw any mechanistic conclusions or infer causality, it is the first pediatric report of an association,” says Roopa Kanakatti Shankar, M.D., endocrinologist at Children’s National and one of the authors of the case study. “We hope it will contribute to this novel field as our understanding of COVID-19 and its myriad effects on the immune system is still evolving.”
Why it matters
This case will alert clinicians to be mindful of the association and similarities in presentation of adrenal insufficiency to MIS-C and consider adrenal crisis in the differential diagnosis of such a presentation.
You can read the full case study, New-Onset Primary Adrenal Insufficiency and Autoimmune Hypothyroidism in a Pediatric Patient Presenting with MIS-C, in Hormone Research in Paediatrics.
