Management of a pregnant patient with Graves' disease complicated by thionamide-induced neutropenia in the first trimester

A 31-year-old woman presented with neutropenia due to thionamide drug therapy for Graves' disease. She also reported 8 weeks of amenorrhoea and had a positive pregnancy test. Her drug therapy was discontinued and her neutropenia resolved uneventfully. The hyperthyroidism recurred a week later. After consideration of all treatment options, it was decided to observe until 14 weeks when an elective thyroidectomy was planned. Mother and fetus were monitored closely and both tolerated moderate hyperthyroidism well. At 14 weeks the patient underwent a total thyroidectomy after rendering her euthyroid with a short course of sodium ipodate, Labour was induced at 41 weeks. Delivery was complicated by fetal distress and precipitated a forceps delivery. A 3250 g male infant was born with poor Apgar score and required 2 h of ventilation. At 1 year, the child had reached all developmental milestones at appropriate times. Both mother and fetus may tolerate moderate thyrotoxicosis well in early pregnancy, an alternative that should be considered when thionamide drug therapy is contraindicated.