ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE LEVELS IN THYROID DISEASE

Serum alkaline phosphatase was estimated in eighty-one unselected patients with suspected thyroid dysfunction. Nineteen were found to be thyrotoxic, fifty-six euthyroid and six myxoedematous. In seven of the thyrotoxic patients the serum alkaline phosphatase level was higher than 10 KA units. There was a significant elevation of mean serum alkaline phosphatase levels in the thyrotoxic patients compared with the euthyroid controls. No significant difference in serum calcium or phosphorus levels was demonstrated between the thyrotoxic patients and the euthyroid controls. The possibility of thyrotoxicosis should be borne in mind in patients with a raised alkaline phosphatase level of otherwise obscure aetiology. © 1969.