ESPE Abstracts

Objective: Comparison of studies on remission rates in pediatric Graves’ disease is complicated by lack of uniformity in treatment protocols, remission definition, and follow-up duration. We performed a systematic review on remission rates in pediatric Graves’ disease and attempted to create uniformity by recalculating remission rates based on an intention-to-treat analysis.

Results: Of 1,890 articles, 29 articles consisting of 24 patient cohorts, were included with a total of 3,057 patients (82.6% female). Methimazole or carbimazole was initially prescribed in 2,864 patients (93.7%). Recalculation based on intention-to-treat analysis resulted in an overall remission rate of 28.8% (829/2,880). Pooled remission rates based on treatment duration were 23.7%, 31.0%, 43.7%, and 75% after respectively 1.5-2.5 years, 2.5-5 years, 5-6 years (two studies), and 9 years (single study) treatment duration. Occurrence of adverse events was 419 in 2,377 patients (17.6%), with major side effects in 25 patients (1.1%).

Conclusions: Using a standardized calculation the overall remission rate in methimazole treated pediatric GD is 28.8%. A few small studies indicate that longer treatment increases the remission rate. However, evidence is limited and further research is necessary to investigate the efficacy of longer treatment durations.