Acquired von Willebrand’s disease in the course of severe primary hypothyroidism in a patient with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 3

Abstract

The case of a 20-year old female, who had been followed because of von Willebrand disease (vWD) was presented in this paper . She had a past history of menorrhagia and bleeding after dental procedures and the activity of von Willebrand factor (vWF) was decreased. Because of suggestive clinical features, the workup for hypothyroidism was performed and the patient was found to have severe hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto thyroiditis. After the institution of replacement therapy with levothyroxine, von Willebrand factor activity returned to normal range and symptoms of von Willebrand disease disappeared. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AvWS) due to hypothyroidism was made. The development of myasthenia led to the final diagnosis of autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 3 (APS) with myasthenia gravis and vitiligo.
Pol J Endocrinol 2008; 59 (1): 34-37