Fifty patients aged over 60 years (average age of 64,04 years) were studied. The thyrotoxicosis was proved in a clinical, laboratory, and in some cases histologic way. As a result of our investigation we established that the thyrotoxicosis in the elderly patients posed considerable diagnostic difficulties because of the atypical and olygosymptomatic clinical picture. The disease could be manifested by one symptom only which was tachycardia in most cases. One common symptom in our patients was atrial fibrillation. The presence of ischemic heart disease did not exclude thyrotoxicosis. Most often a depressive but not irritative syndrome was observed. The skin was soft and gentle but often cold and dry. The structure of the thyroid gland was established with ultrasonography and sometimes radioiodine scanning. The TRH-test was of a significant diagnostic value and good acceptability in elderly patients which allowed to ignore the usage of Werner's test.
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