15511              ATROPHIC THYROID - MYXOEDEMA

The patient was a mentally defective woman aged 67 who had been treated wit thyroid extract since leaving a mental hospital 3 years before.  Her general health had been deteriorating for a few months before her final admission.  On that occasion the temperature was 96ºF, pulse 40/min, and B.P. unrecordable.  The skin was pale, dry and scaly and there was frontal baldness.  The heart was greatly enlarged on X-ray.  She was admitted as a case of gross myxoedema in pre-coma and was treated with tri-iodothyronine intravenously and hydrocortisone.  She died the following day.

The specimen consists of the larynx, thyroid, and the upper portion of the trachea.  The thyroid is very small, shrunken and very pale.