European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

To evaluate the efficacy of low-dose oral prednisolone therapy in patients with subacute thyroiditis. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out at IGIMS, Patna. A  total of 120 patients with features suggestive of subacute thyroiditis coming to IGIMS, Patna were enrolled in the study. This was a prospective, cross-sectional observational study. The patients were administered prednisolone in a starting dose of 15 mg tapered over 3-6 weeks. Results:120 patients with subacute thyroiditis were included in the study. The majority of patients comprise females with male to female ratio of 1:4 and a mean age of 35.4 years. Almost all (118) presented with severe neck pain whereas two presented with undiagnosed fever with moderate neck pain. Institution of steroid therapy produced immediate relief and pain and fever had completely resolved in 98 patients by three weeks and rest required treatment extending to six weeks or more.  Conclusion: 15 mg of prednisolone therapy is an effective treatment for relief of symptoms of subacute thyroiditis. whereas for some patients three weeks of therapy is good enough, others require extended therapy to six weeks or more.