MYXEDEMA CIRCUMSCRIPTUM THYROTOXICUM: REPORT OF TWO CASES AND REMARKS ON ITS PATHOGENESIS AND TREATMENT

Abstract

Two cases of "myxedema thyrotoxicum circumscriptum" are described. In one of the patients the lesions appeared after 2 yrs. of Graves-Basedow disease; in the 2d, they developed during irregular treatment with thiouracil. BMR was + 12% and + 34%, respectively. Both patients were cured by the admn. of estrogen in large doses. The cutaneous biopsy showed in one case the presence of an edematous zone which divided the corium into 2 layers. This histologic lesion, with its specific topography and structure, seems to be characteristic of this disorder. Circumscribed myxedema is a cutaneous lesion which, like malignant exophthalmos, is apparently caused by high production of pituitary thyrotropic hormone.