An evaluation of reverse T3 as a diagnostic and prognostic parameter in cerebrovascular disease

Reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) has no biological activity in humans, but in some chronic non-thyroidal diseases it was found that high levels of rT3 could be of clinical importance. The paper attempts to evaluate the changes in T3 and rT3 concentrations in human sera of patients with acute cerebrovascular disease (ACD). TIR-IM T3 polyethylene glycol was used in measurements of T3, and RIA-mat-rT3 kits for the determination of rT3 concentration. Sixteen patients were divided into two groups according to the neurological diagnosis of ACD, which was either hemorrhagic or ischaemic. All 16 patients showed very good inverse correlation between serum concentration of T3 and rT3. A low T3 was always followed by high rT3 levels. In the group of nine patients with the clinical diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke we noticed a rapid increase in rT3 levels in the first few days after the onset of the disease with low T3 concentration in sera, but in the following days levels of T3 and rT3 normalized in five patients, which proved to be a good prognostic factor. If the levels of rT3 remained elevated, as found in four patients with hemorrhagic stroke, the prognosis was unfavourable. In patients with the clinical diagnosis of ischaemic stroke, the pattern of hormone changes was different, owing to the systematic property of ischaemic disease. Levels of rT3 increased more slowly and remained elevated longer than in the first group, regardless of the severity of the disease. (author). 4 refs, 3 figs