Challenges of Cutaneous Care in Hyperthyroidism: A Case Report

Abstract

Cutaneous manifestations of thyroid disease are one of the first notable signs of thyroid hormone dysregulation. Skin changes in hyperthyroidism vary from individual to individual. In dark skinned Africans it may be challenging to detect these dermatoses and care for the patients with these dermatoses if they arise. Making the actual cutaneous diagnosis in hyperthyroidism may be impaired by co-morbidities, drug-drug interactions, hypersensitive reactions, unusual presentation of common diseases, immunosuppression that may result to opportunistic infections and similar presentations of dermatoses. There may be dermatoses that may co-exist with other dermatoses within the same site. The peculiarity of our case report is that we present three females with hyperthyroidism that cut across different age groups with different cutaneous lesions. This case report aims to present the challenges of making accurate skin diagnosis and challenges that arise in actually caring for them. Counselling the patient on the appropriate care and prognosis of these skin lesions would help in improvement of quality of life and unwanted expectations