Introduction:

Despite its low incidence, the severity of the clinical picture and the high mortality make myxedematous coma a complication to be taken into account.

Objective:

Describe the basic elements for the diagnosis and therapeutic management of myxedematous coma in adult patients.

Methods:

A search of relevant literature on the subject was carried out. Pubmed and Google Scholar were used as search engines for scientific information. The search strategy included the following keyword terms: primary hypothyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, diagnosis and treatment. Review articles, research articles and Web pages that, in general, had less than 10 years of publication, in Spanish and English that specifically referred to the subject of study through the title were evaluated. Articles that did not meet these conditions were excluded. This allowed the study of 64 articles, of which 40 were referenced.

Conclusions:

For the diagnosis of myxedematous coma in the adult patient, the most important thing is to suspect it in those people who present precipitating factors, accompanied by symptoms and signs of severe hypothyroidism with different degrees of central nervous system insufficiency, hypothermia, hypoventilation, circulatory insufficiency and hyponatremia. To this would be added the characteristic humoral scenario and the possible findings dependent on the disease causing hypothyroidism. It should be treated with an aggressive replacement of levothyroxine sodium (intravenous or oral way, accodring to the possibilities), together with other supportive measures in the hospital setting.

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