Endocrine Insider
April 15, 2009

In response to the April 9, 2009 Letter to the Editor in the New England Journal of Medicine by Scott A. Rivkees, M.D. of Yale University School of Medicine and Donald R. Mattison, M.D. of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The Endocrine Society issued a statement supporting the recommendation that propylthiouracil (PTU) no longer be used as first-line treatment for Graves' disease in the pediatric population. 

This recommendation comes in response to concerns about potential severe liver disease in children from the commonly used antithyroid drug, PTU, an adverse effect not seen with the other thionamide derivative, methimazole.  On the basis of several lines of evidence and frequency estimates, some of which were presented at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) workshop “Hepatic Toxicity Following Treatment for Pediatric Graves’ Disease” on October 28, 2008, Rivkees and Mattison suggest that PTU no longer be used as first-line treatment for Graves’ disease in the pediatric age range. 

The full statement may be found here.  Please contact Stephanie Kutler, Director of Government Affairs, at skutler@endo-society.org with any questions.