Hypothyroidism causes

Hypothyroidism Main page
Patient Information
Overview
Classification Primary hypothyroidism Hashimoto's thyroiditis Secondary hypothyroidism Tertiary hypothyroidism
Differentiating different causes of hypothyroidism
Screening
Diagnosis
History and symptoms

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Vignesh Ponnusamy, M.B.B.S. [2] Luke Rusowicz-Orazem, B.S.

Causes

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is thyroiditis. Swelling and inflammation damage the thyroid gland's cells.

Causes of this problem include:

• The immune system attacking the thyroid gland
• Viral infections (common cold) or other respiratory infections
• Pregnancy (often called postpartum thyroiditis)

Other causes of hypothyroidism include:

• Certain medicines, such as lithium and amiodarone
• Congenital (birth) defects
• Radiation treatments to the neck or brain to treat different cancers
• Radioactive iodine used to treat an overactive thyroid gland
• Surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid gland
• Sheehan syndrome, a condition that may occur in a woman who bleeds severely during pregnancy or childbirth and causes the destruction of the pituitary gland
• Pituitary tumor or pituitary surgery

Life Threatening Causes

• Aneurysm
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• Craniopharyngioma
• Glioma
• Hypomelia
• Meningioma
• Metastasis
• Neoplastic
• Pituitary adenoma
• Pituitary apoplexy
• Pituitary cancer 
• Syphilis

Common Causes

• Iodine deficiency
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• Thyroid hormone resistance 
• Thyroid stimulating hormone deficiency
• Trh deficiency
• Tsh deficiency

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	Alström syndrome, Aneurysm of the internal carotid artery, Neutral lipid storage disease
Chemical/Poisoning	Iodine 131, Iodine antenatal infection  , Iron overload , Isolated tsh deficiency, Lithium, Potassium iodide
Dental	No underlying causes
Dermatologic	Dermatosclerosis
Drug Side Effect	Aminoglutethimide, Amiodarone, Antithyroid drugs, Atezolizumab, Axitinib, Bexarotene, Bromide  , Carbimazole, Catch 22  , Ed-in-sol, Ethionamide, Femiron, Feosol, Feostat, Feratab, Fer-gen-sol, Fergon, Fer-in-sol, Ferrex, Hytinic, Icar, Interferon alfacon-1, Interferon alpha, Interferon-alfa, Interleukin-2, Ircon, Methimazole, Mitotane, Nephro-fer, Niferex, Nivolumab, Nu-iron, Oxcarbazepine, Para-amino salicylic acid, Peginterferon beta-1a, Pegylated interferon alfa-2b, Pembrolizumab, Perchlorate, Pergolide, Phenytoin and levothyroxine interaction, Pramipexole, Propylthiouracil, Slow-fe, Sorafenib, Thionamides, Thyroid and cholestyramine interaction, Tiagabine, Tocilizumab, Tositumomab iodine-131, Ttf-1, Ttf-2, Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, Vitron-c
Ear Nose Throat	Bilateral abductor vocal cord paralysis syndrome
Endocrine	Abnormal maternal iodine levels, Acth deficiency, Antithyroid drugs, Apeced syndrome, Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 3, Autoimmune thyroiditis, Brain-lung-thyroid syndrome, Central hypothyroidism, Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 1 (pou1f1 gene), Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 2 (prop1 gene), Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 3 (lhx gene), Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a  , Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1h  , Congenital thyroid dysgenesis, Cretinism athyreotic  , De quervain thyroiditis, Deficiency of pit1, Dopamine, Empty sella, Escamilla-lisser syndrome  , Fibrous thyroiditis, Goiter , Graves disease  , Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Hemochromatosis, Hyperthyroidism  , Hypoadrenocorticism , Hypomelia , Hypopituitarism, Hypothalamic dysfunction  , Hypothyroidism, Iodine deficiency, Iodine excess, Kaplowitz-bodurtha syndrome  , Lymphocytic hypophysitis, Lymphocytic thyroiditis, Lymphomatous thyroiditis  , Multiple endocrine abnormalities , Panhypopituitarism, Peripheral thyroid gland disorder resistance, Pituitary adenoma, Pituitary apoplexy, Pituitary cancer  , Pituitary dwarfism type 3, Pituitary dysfunction , Polyendocrinopathy, Polyglandular disorders, Postpartum thyroiditis  , Primary hypothyroidism, Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a, Rathke's cleft cyst, Reidel's thyroiditis, Resistance to thyroid hormone  , Retinohepatoendocrinologic syndrome  , Riedel syndrome  , Secondary hypothyroidism, Sheehan syndrome, Silent thyroiditis, Subacute granulomatous thyroiditis, Subacute lymphocytic thyroiditis, Subacute thyroiditis, Subtotal thyroidectomy, Supprative thyroiditis, Thyreostatic therapy, Thyroid dysgenesis  , Thyroid dyshormonogenesis  , Thyroid ectopy, Thyroid hormone resistance  , Thyroid stimulating hormone deficiency, Thyroidectomy, Thyroiditis, Trh deficiency, Tsh deficiency
Environmental	No underlying causes
Gastroenterologic	Diarrhea, Enteropathy, Retinohepatoendocrinologic syndrome
Genetic	17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase iii deficiency  , Abnormal maternal iodine levels, Acth deficiency, Alström syndrome, Bamforth syndrome  , Bangstad syndrome  , Cdg syndrome type 1a  , Chromosome 1, 1p36 deletion syndrome  , Chromosome 10, monosomy 10p  , Chromosome 10p deletion syndrome, Chromosome 12 ring syndrome  , Chromosome 15q duplication syndrome  , Chromosome 15q, trisomy  , Chromosome 2 trisomy syndrome  , Chromosome 6, trisomy 6q  , Chromosome 6q duplication syndrome  , Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 1 (pou1f1 gene), Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 2 (prop1 gene), Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 3 (lhx gene), Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a  , Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1h  , Congenital thyroid dysgenesis, Cystinosis, Deficiency of pit1, Digeorge syndrome, Down syndrome, Emanuel syndrome, Ipex syndrome, Johanson-blizzard syndrome  , Kaplowitz-bodurtha syndrome  , Langerhans cell histiocytosis, Monosomy 1p36  , Mutations , Ohdo syndrome, Pax8, Pendred's syndrome  , Poems syndrome, Septo-optic dysplasia, Turner syndrome, Velocardiofacial syndrome  , Vilanova-canadeli syndrome  , Wolfram syndrome 2  , Zadik barak levin syndrome
Hematologic	Diabetes insipidus, Diabetes mellitus, Hemochromatosis, Hemocyte, Iodine deficiency, Iodine excess, Iron overload , Isolated tsh deficiency, Maternal antibody, Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Iatrogenic	Iatrogenic, Neck radiotherapy, Neck surgery, Radiation therapy, Radioactive iodine therapy, Subtotal thyroidectomy, Supprative thyroiditis, Thyroidectomy
Infectious Disease	Iodine antenatal infection  , Mycoses, Rathke's cleft cyst, Syphilis, Tuberculosis
Musculoskeletal/Orthopedic	Bilateral abductor vocal cord paralysis syndrome
Neurologic	Aneurysm of the internal carotid artery, Brain-lung-thyroid syndrome, Craniopharyngioma, Dopamine, Down syndrome, Microcephaly , Microphthalmia syndromic, Neurosarcoidosis  , Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Nutritional/Metabolic	Diabetes insipidus, Diabetes mellitus, Diarrhea, Obesity
Obstetric/Gynecologic	Neonatal illness, Sheehan syndrome
Oncologic	Craniopharyngioma, Glioma, Hypomelia , Meningioma, Metastasis, Neoplastic, Pituitary adenoma, Pituitary apoplexy, Pituitary cancer
Ophthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose/Toxicity	No underlying causes
Psychiatric	No underlying causes
Pulmonary	Amyloidosis, Tuberculosis
Renal/Electrolyte	No underlying causes
Rheumatology/Immunology/Allergy	Amyloidosis, Anti-tsh receptor antibodies, Apeced syndrome, Autoimmune disorders, Autoimmune enteropathy, Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 3, Autoimmune thyroiditis, Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, Dermatosclerosis, Fibrous thyroiditis, Graves disease  , Immune dysregulation , Kashin-bek disease  , Langerhans cell histiocytosis, Neurosarcoidosis  , Rheumatoid arthritis, Sarcoidosis, Scleroderma
Sexual	Syphilis
Trauma	Injury
Urologic	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	No underlying causes

Causes in Alphabetical Order

• 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase iii deficiency 
• Abnormal maternal iodine levels
• Acth deficiency
• Alström syndrome
• Aminoglutethimide
• Amiodarone
• Amyloidosis
• Aneurysm of the internal carotid artery
• Antithyroid drugs
• Anti-tsh receptor antibodies
• Apeced syndrome
• Atezolizumab
• Autoimmune disorders
• Autoimmune enteropathy
• Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 3
• Autoimmune thyroiditis
• Axitinib
• Bamforth syndrome 
• Bangstad syndrome 
• Bexarotene
• Bilateral abductor vocal cord paralysis syndrome 
• Brain-lung-thyroid syndrome
• Bromide 
• Carbimazole
• Catch 22 
• Cdg syndrome type 1a 
• Central hypothyroidism
• Chromosome 1, 1p36 deletion syndrome 
• Chromosome 10, monosomy 10p 
• Chromosome 10p deletion syndrome
• Chromosome 12 ring syndrome 
• Chromosome 15q duplication syndrome 
• Chromosome 15q, trisomy 
• Chromosome 2 trisomy syndrome 
• Chromosome 6, trisomy 6q 
• Chromosome 6q duplication syndrome 
• Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis
• Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 1 (pou1f1 gene)
• Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 2 (prop1 gene)
• Combined pituitary hormone deficiency 3 (lhx gene)
• Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a 
• Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1h 
• Congenital thyroid dysgenesis
• Craniopharyngioma
• Cretinism athyreotic 
• Cystinosis
• De quervain thyroiditis
• Deficiency of pit1
• Dermatosclerosis
• Diabetes insipidus
• Diabetes mellitus
• Diarrhea
• Digeorge syndrome
• Dopamine
• Down syndrome
• Ed-in-sol
• Emanuel syndrome
• Empty sella
• Enteropathy
• Escamilla-lisser syndrome 
• Ethionamide
• Femiron
• Feosol
• Feostat
• Feratab
• Fer-gen-sol
• Fergon
• Fer-in-sol
• Ferrex
• Fibrous thyroiditis
• Glioma
• Goiter
• Graves disease 
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• Hemochromatosis
• Hemocyte
• Hyperthyroidism 
• Hypoadrenocorticism
• Hypomelia
• Hypopituitarism
• Hypothalamic dysfunction 
• Hypothyroidism
• Hytinic
• Iatrogenic
• Icar
• Immune dysregulation
• Injury
• Interferon alfacon-1
• Interferon alpha
• Interferon-alfa
• Interleukin-2
• Iodine 131
• Iodine antenatal infection 
• Iodine deficiency
• Iodine excess
• Ipex syndrome
• Ircon
• Iron overload
• Isolated tsh deficiency
• Johanson-blizzard syndrome 
• Kaplowitz-bodurtha syndrome 
• Kashin-bek disease 
• Langerhans cell histiocytosis
• Lithium
• Lymphocytic hypophysitis
• Lymphocytic thyroiditis
• Lymphomatous thyroiditis 
• Maternal antibody
• Meningioma
• Metastasis
• Methimazole
• Microcephaly
• Microphthalmia syndromic
• Mitotane
• Monosomy 1p36 
• Multiple endocrine abnormalities
• Mutations
• Mycoses
• Neck radiotherapy
• Neck surgery
• Neonatal illness
• Neoplastic
• Nephro-fer
• Neurosarcoidosis 
• Neutral lipid storage disease
• Niferex
• Nivolumab
• Nu-iron
• Obesity
• Ohdo syndrome
• Oxcarbazepine
• Panhypopituitarism
• Para-amino salicylic acid
• Pax8
• Peginterferon beta-1a
• Pegylated interferon alfa-2b
• Pembrolizumab
• Pendred's syndrome 
• Perchlorate
• Pergolide
• Peripheral thyroid gland disorder resistance
• Phenytoin and levothyroxine interaction
• Pituitary adenoma
• Pituitary apoplexy
• Pituitary cancer 
• Pituitary dwarfism type 3
• Pituitary dysfunction
• Poems syndrome
• Polyendocrinopathy
• Polyglandular disorders
• Postpartum thyroiditis 
• Potassium iodide
• Pramipexole
• Previous grave's disease
• Primary hypothyroidism
• Propylthiouracil
• Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a
• Radiation therapy
• Radioactive iodine therapy
• Rathke's cleft cyst
• Reidel's thyroiditis
• Resistance to thyroid hormone 
• Retinohepatoendocrinologic syndrome 
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Riedel syndrome 
• Sarcoidosis
• Scleroderma
• Secondary hypothyroidism
• Septo-optic dysplasia
• Sheehan syndrome
• Silent thyroiditis
• Slow-fe
• Sorafenib
• Subacute granulomatous thyroiditis
• Subacute lymphocytic thyroiditis
• Subacute thyroiditis
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• Subtotal thyroidectomy
• Supprative thyroiditis
• Syphilis
• Thionamides
• Thyreostatic therapy
• Thyroid and cholestyramine interaction
• Thyroid dysgenesis 
• Thyroid dyshormonogenesis 
• Thyroid ectopy
• Thyroid hormone resistance 
• Thyroid stimulating hormone deficiency
• Thyroidectomy
• Thyroiditis
• Tiagabine
• Tocilizumab
• Tositumomab iodine-131
• Trh deficiency
• Tsh deficiency
• Ttf-1
• Ttf-2
• Tuberculosis
• Turner syndrome
• Tyrosine kinase inhibitors
• Velocardiofacial syndrome 
• Vilanova-canadeli syndrome 
• Vitron-c
• Wolfram syndrome 2 
• Zadik barak levin syndrome