Intermittent and recurrent episodes of subclinical hypothyroidism, central hypothyroidism and T3-toxicosis in an elderly woman.

Exogenous thyrotoxicosis is usually caused by ingestion of excessive amounts of thyroid hormone, which could be intentional or surreptitious (known as factitious thyrotoxicosis). Non-pharmacological exogenous thyrotoxicosis is an exceptional event. One example is alimentary thyrotoxicosis, which is caused by the ingestion of meat or sausage containing thyroid tissue, inadvertently mixed with traces of muscles and other tissues of the animal's neck (hamburger thyrotoxicosis). We report for the first time a patient who had recurrent episodes of triiodothyronine (T3) toxicosis for several years due to inadvertent chronic consumption of contaminated traditional Spanish cold meat with porcine thyroid.