Thyroid storm causing placental abruption: Cardiovascular and management complications for the Intensivist

Abstract

Thyroid storm is a rare and serious complication of pregnancy which can lead to spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, preeclampsia and cardiac failure. It is also associated with high maternal and foetal mortality if not diagnosed and managed promptly. The diagnosis of thyroid storm in pregnancy can pose significant challenges due to its presentation being similar to other pregnancy-related complications. We present a patient who developed thyroid storm at 29 weeks of pregnancy, which resulted in pre-term delivery, cardiac failure and thyroidectomy.We discuss the treatment of thyroid storm in pregnancy, the decision making involved in proceeding to thyroidectomy or to use radio-iodine, and foetal thyroid status in thyrotoxicosis.