Treatment of Thyrotoxic Crisis With Plasmapheresis and Single Pass Albumin Dialysis: A Case Report

Thyrotoxic crisis (thyroid storm) is a life-threatening condition. Standard therapy is based on thiamazole, prednisolone, and nonselective beta-blockers. Extracorporeal plasmapheresis is an additional tool for removing circulating thyroxine in patients who do not respond quickly to conventional standard therapy. As thyroxine can be bound by albumin, the aims of the present therapy report were to investigate the potential of extracorporeal single-pass albumin dialysis (SPAD) to remove thyroid hormones and to compare it with plasmapheresis. A 68-year-old female with thyrotoxic crisis refractory to conventional therapy underwent two sessions of plasmapheresis without clinical response. For the treatment dose to be increased, the patient was then treated with a modified continuous veno-venous hemodialysis with a dialysate containing 4% of human serum albumin (SPAD) intended to bind and remove thyroxines continuously. In total, the patient received three sessions of plasmapheresis and four SPAD treatments. Thyroxine levels were detected in the patient and in exchanged plasma or albumin dialysate, respectively, to calculate the amount removed. The main finding was that SPAD treatments were tolerated well by the patient. Due to continuous approach, SPAD sessions removed more thyroid hormone than plasmapheresis did, resulting in the improvement of the clinical status of the patient (reduction of heart rate and catecholamine dosage), which enabled bridging the patient to thyroidectomy as the ultimate surgical treatment. This is the first clinical report of the use of albumin dialysis in thyroid storm. SPAD represents a safe and efficient alternative to plasmapheresis as it can be performed continuously in this critical condition.