Topic Name

Message

If ARUP Consult does not answer your test selection and interpretation questions, or if you would like to suggest ways to improve content or usability, please send a message to the Consult editorial staff.

Please do not include any patient-specific or personal health information (PHI) in your message.

Email Address

An email address is not required, but providing one allows the ARUP Consult editorial staff to respond directly. ARUP will only use your email address to respond to your feedback. See the ARUP privacy policy for more information regarding email use.

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA

What code is in the image?

Enter the characters shown in the image.

Get new captcha!

Thyroid Disease Testing

Thyroid disease refers to any dysfunction of the thyroid gland. This dysfunction may be due to a variety of etiologies, including autoimmune processes (eg, Graves disease, Hashimoto disease), thyroid cancer, specific drugs (eg, amiodarone, kinase inhibitors, lithium), viral infection, or iodine deficiency, among other causes. Thyroid disease is classified as hypothyroidism (insufficient thyroid hormone) or hyperthyroidism (excess thyroid hormone). Because the clinical signs and symptoms of thyroid disease are nonspecific, laboratory testing is required for diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis is required for appropriate treatment. Laboratory testing for thyroid disease in pregnancy is particularly challenging, and testing recommendations differ from those for nonpregnant patients. The preferred initial test for thyroid disease is thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with reflex to free thyroxine (free T4) testing. Results from these tests are used to guide additional testing.