Diagnostic Scales for Thyroid Storm in the Latin American Population: Clinical Utility, Limitations, and Regional Evidence. A Structured Narrative Review

Abstract

Thyroid storm is a rare but life-threatening endocrine emergency whose diagnosis continues to rely on the integration of clinical judgment and diagnostic scoring systems rather than on a single confirmatory test [1][2]. Over the past decades, the most widely used diagnostic tools have been the Burch-Wartofsky Point Scale (BWPS) and the Japanese Thyroid Association (JTA) criteria, both of which offer important conceptual strengths but also present limitations related to subjectivity, clinical heterogeneity, and the absence of a universally accepted reference standard [1][2]. The aim of this structured narrative review is to synthesize the available evidence regarding the clinical utility, applicability, and limitations of thyroid storm diagnostic scales in the Latin American population by integrating regional evidence with the international literature [1][2][3]. The review found that the Latin American scientific literature consists primarily of case series, retrospective cohorts, and case reports, which provide valuable information on patterns of scale utilization and agreement but do not support a formal assessment of diagnostic accuracy [4][5][6][7].