Endocrinol Metab.  2013 Dec;28(4):331-334. 10.3803/EnM.2013.28.4.331.

Rhabdomyolysis and Acute Kidney Injury Associated with Hypothyroidism and Statin Therapy

• Ahn P
• Min HJ
• Park SH
• Lee BM
• Choi MJ
• Yoon JW
• Koo JR

• KMID: 2169312
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2013.28.4.331

Abstract

Rhabdomyolysis is a syndrome involving the breakdown of skeletal muscle that causes myoglobin and other intracellular proteins to leak into the circulatory system, resulting in organ injury including acute kidney injury. We report a case of statin-induced rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury that developed in a 63-year-old woman with previously undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Untreated hypothyroidism may have caused her hypercholesterolemia requiring statin treatment, and it is postulated that statin-induced muscle injury was aggravated by hypothyroidism resulting in her full-blown rhabdomyolysis. Although this patient was successfully treated with continuous venovenous hemofiltration and L-thyroxin replacement, rhabdomyolysis with acute kidney injury is a potentially life-threatening disorder. Physicians must pay special attention to the possible presence of subclinical hypothyroidism when administering statins in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

Keyword

Hypothyroidism; Rhabdomyolysis; Statins

MeSH Terms

Acute Kidney Injury*
Female
Hemofiltration
Humans
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors*
Hypercholesterolemia
Hypothyroidism*
Middle Aged
Muscle, Skeletal
Muscles
Myoglobin
Rhabdomyolysis*
Myoglobin

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Bone scans show a diffuse soft tissue uptake in right pelvis and both lower legs.

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