Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31662841›Full record

ReviewJournal of thyroid research2019

Challenges in Interpreting Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Results in the Diagnosis of Thyroid Dysfunction.

Salman Razvi, Sindeep Bhana, Sanaa Mrabeti

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of thyroid research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.4field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  20. Atypical Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Levels in Myxedema Coma Complicated by Severe Sepsis.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Salman RazviInstitute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 3BZ, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9047-1556
Sindeep BhanaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sanaa MrabetiMedical Affairs EMEA, Merck Serono Middle East FZ-LLC, Dubai, UAE.
Merck Serono (Italy) · ITNewcastle University · GBUniversity of the Witwatersrand · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The pituitary hormone, thyrotropin (TSH), is regarded as the primary biomarker for evaluating thyroid function and is useful in guiding treatment with levothyroxine for patients with hypothyroidism. The amplified response of TSH to slight changes in thyroid hormone levels provides a large and easily measured signal in the routine care setting. Laboratories provide reference ranges with upper and lower cutoffs for TSH to define normal thyroid function. The upper limit of the range, used to diagnose subclinical (mild) hypothyroidism, is itself a matter for debate, with authoritative guidelines recommending treatment to within the lower half of the range. Concomitant diseases, medications, supplements, age, gender, ethnicity, iodine status, time of day, time of year, autoantibodies, heterophilic antibodies, smoking, and other factors influence the level of TSH, or the performance of current TSH assays. The long-term prognostic implications of small deviations of TSH from the reference range are unclear. Correction of TSH to within the reference range does not always bring thyroid and other biomarkers into range and will not always resolve the patient's symptoms. Overt hypothyroidism requires intervention with levothyroxine. It remains important that physicians managing a patient with symptoms suggestive of thyroid disease consider all of the patient's relevant disease, lifestyle, and other factors before intervening on the basis of a marginally raised TSH level alone. Finally, these limitations of TSH testing mitigate against screening the population for the undoubtedly substantial prevalence of undiagnosed thyroid disease, until appropriately designed randomised trials have quantified the benefits and harms from this approach.

Identifiers

PMID31662841
PMCPMC6778876
OpenAlexW2972101486

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.