PurposeHypothyroidism has traditionally been associated with obesity, whereas hyperthyroidism has been linked to being underweight. However, very few studies have assessed these associations. The aim of this work is to evaluate the association between thyroid dysfunction and body mass index (BMI) at baseline and after normalization of the hormone levels.Patients and methodsA retrospective, observational study of a cohort of otherwise healthy patients that were referred for evaluation of thyroid dysfunction to the Endocrine Department of Pontevedra University Complex Hospital, Spain was conducted. We collected data of BMI and thyroid hormone levels before treatment and after normalization of thyroid function within a follow-up period of 12 months.ResultsA total of 330 patients were initially selected for the study. In order to exclude variables that for any reason could influence on BMI, 235 were excluded for further studies. Another 61 patients were also excluded because incomplete data on their medical records, failure to achieve euthyroidism, or lost to follow-up. Therefore, the eligible final study group consisted of 34 patients (17 with hypothyroidism and 17 with hyperthyroidism). No differences were observed in mean baseline BMI between hypo and hyperthyroid patients (27.07±3.22 vs 26.39±4.44, p=0.609). Overweight or obesity was observed in 76.5% and 58.8% of hypothyroid and hyperthyroid patients, respectively (p=0.23). After normalization of thyroid function, the weight of hypothyroid patients decreased from 70.93±10.06 kg to 68.68±10.14 (p=0.000), while the weight of hyperthyroid patients increased from 65.45±11.64 kg to 68.37±12.80 (p=0.000). Their mean BMI was 26.22±3.36 and 27.57±4.98 (p=0.361) for hypo- and hyperthyroid patients, respectively. 58.8% and 64.7% patients remained in the overweight/obesity range in each group (p=0.72).ConclusionUntreated thyroid dysfunction is not associated with BMI. Normalization of thyroid levels significantly changed the weight of patients, but remaining most patients within overweight ranges.
Objective. To analyze some factors that could influence the outcome of patients with PTMC. Material and Methods. This is a longitudinal observational study. All patients diagnosed and treated for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma at the University Hospital of Vigo, between January 1994 and December 2003, were included in the present study. Demographic characteristics, tumour characteristics, TNM stage, rate of recurrence, and treatment with 131I were the study variables. Results. Ninety-one patients (75 females) with an average age of 47.7 ± 13.4 years, range 19–81, were studied. Initial tumour staging was T1 in 90 patients and T4a in 1 case. Initial lymph node involvement was present in 4 cases (4.4%). We only found one case with distant metastases at diagnosis. Postsurgical evaluation of thyroid specimens revealed that 28 (30.7%) tumours were multifocal. The average size of the tumour was 0.44 ± 0.25 cm, range 0.1–1. Univariate analysis reveals a statistically significant association between tumour multifocality and postsurgical 131I therapy with the recurrence rate. In the multivariate analysis only multifocality (P = 0.037, HR 5.7) was a significant risk factor for the recurrence rate. Conclusions. Our results indicate that tumour multifocality is an independent predictor of relapse but neither the tumour size nor postsurgical 131I therapy.
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