Archive Of Standardized Exam Questions: Euthyroid Sick Syndrome

OVERVIEW

This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is euthyroid sick syndrome. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how euthyroid sick syndrome will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a traditional question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.

QUESTION EXAMPLES

Question # 1

63-year-old man with an acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock is admitted to the hospital. His hospital course is complicated by renal failure and also lower GI bleeding due to his anticoagulation therapy. The patient has no past medical history of any thyroid disease. Exam reveals an unremarkable thyroid gland. Lab results are as follows:

  • T4 free: 1.5 ng/dL (ref range = 0.9-2.4 ng/dL) **
  • T3 total: 68 ng/dL (ref range = 80-180 ng/dL) **
  • TSH: 2.2 mU/L (ref range = 0.5 – 5.0 mU/L) **

What is the most likely diagnosis in this patient?

Explanation: acutely ill patient + no history/signs of thyroid disease + decreased T3 + normal T4 and TSH = euthyroid sick syndrome

 

 

 

Page Updated: 02.09.2017