Review Thyroid Test Results Please

[macoduck]

New to owner 9 year old female greyhounds with skin and hair issues. Went from bunny soft to course and patchy. Some itchy and biting.

Looking at these results, does she need to be on thyroid meds?

 

[tbhounds]

Doesn’t indicate hypoT (normal tsh).

[turbotaina]

The low levels are probably breed normal and the TSH is normal, so no. Possible allergy?

[MaryJane]

The T4s are low so even though the TSH is OK, this could be a pituitary issue which is causing hypo (not likely but possible). Greyhounds typically run about 1/2 the normal values of other dogs which would put the T4 values in a "normal place". Having said that, Jean Dodds book has the following statement - "Both Total T4 and free T4 are lowered in cases of hypothyroidism". This was found on page 87 of the 2011 version of book. Since the T4 tests also seem to be correlating with "hypo symptoms", then you might want to send to a lab that also gives a diagnostic evaluation in addition to the results.

[macoduck]

MaryJane, I believe the diagnostic evaluation was requested but has not yet sent.

[montgomery2524]

Thank you for posting for me Ducky. I was out of town and wanted to know what the experts could tell me of Bella's bloodwork. I had sent the sample to Mich State and checked the box for Endocrinologist interpretation but they didn't send that, so I am waiting for them to send it to my vet.

 

I have a question about the unit of measure. Dr Dodds book has sighthound range for FT4 as 0.50 - 120 ng/dL. Bellas report has a reference range of 9-39 pmol/L.

So how do I go about comparing this reference range to Dr Dodd? ng/dL....pmol/L is alphabet soup to me.

 

The other question I have is since I indicated that Bella is a greyhound, do the reference ranges in the report equate to sighthound or dogs in general?

 

Thank you!

[macoduck]

Lynda, I found a conversion for you:

http://www.endmemo.com/medical/unitconvert/Thyroxine.php

[Batmom]

You don't compare it to Dr Dodd's range. It's only valid to compare your value to the normals for the lab that ran the test.

[tbhounds]

You don't compare it to Dr Dodd's range. It's only valid to compare your value to the normals for the lab that ran the test.

And Dodd’s -well, I’ll just say she’s not for a lack of a better word- traditional.

[montgomery2524]

I finally received the Endocrinologist report today.

 

11/01/2017 9:00:00 Endocrinology Interpretation
There is excellent evidence to indicate that reference values for thyroid hormones, especially T4, should be extended lower than those listed here for this breed of dog. We do not have the elevation of thyroid stimulating hormone that is expected with primary hypothyroidism. The negative autoantibody results further decrease the likelihood of lymphocytic thyroiditis in the thyroid glands of this dog. This profile does not offer support for a differential diagnosis of hypothyroidism.

​So they are saying no hypothyroidism. (I so wish labs would list the ranges for the breed of dog they are testing.) The symptoms she has point to thyroid or at least what I know of hypothyroid. Hair loss, dry skin, redness of skin in some areas, seeking warm places, sleeping more then usual, dark pigmentation.

[Batmom]

Were a CBC and chemistry panel also run (bloodwork)?

[tbhounds]

Basic rule of thumb-treat the dog/clinical signs not the numbers. There are some patients that don’t read the manual ;-)

Are these owners in a position to see a veterinary dermatologist??

[montgomery2524]

A standard CBC was run in October 2017. They only did T4 and it was 0.9, which was why we requested thyroid panel through Mich State. In February 2017 the T4 was 0.7.