Arterial stiffness in hyperthyroid patients is deteriorated due to thyroid hormones

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare arterial stiffness, which is an independent risk indicator for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), between patients with overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and healthy volunteers with pulse wave analysis (PWA). Subjects and methods: A total of 102 volunteers were included in the study (30 in the overt hyperthyroid group, 28 in the subclinical hyperthyroid group and 14 with euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and 30 healthy). The arterial stiffness measurements of the participants in the study were performed with the Mobil-O-Graph PWA device (I.E.M. GmBH, Stolberg, Germany), which makes cuff based oscillometric measurement from the brachial artery. Results: Systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate-corrected augmentation index (Aix@75) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements were significantly higher in the hyperthyroid group than in the control group. The heart rate and PWV in the subclinical hyperthyroid group were significantly higher than the control group. In the euthyroid group, systolic blood pressure, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, cardiac index and PWV were found significantly higher than the control group. There was also a negative correlation between Aix@75 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and a positive correlation between Aix@75 and free thyroid hormones. Conclusion: In our study, we observed that the arterial stiffness was adversely affected by an overt or subclinical increase in thyroid hormones and this correlated with thyroid hormone levels. We recommend that PWV measurement, which is a simple method for detecting CVD risk, can be used in these patients.

Association of thyroid hormones with blood pressure and arterial stiffness in the general population: The Dali study

“…20 In a small study that assessed arterial stiffness in 102 volunteers (30 with overt hyperthyroidism, 28 with subclinical hyperthyroidism, 14 with euthyroidism induced by antithyroid therapy, and 30 healthy controls), there was a negative correlation between heart rate-corrected augmentation index (Aix@75) and TSH levels and a positive correlation between Aix@75 and free thyroid hormone concentrations. 14 Together with our findings, the evidence suggests that elevated FT4, even within the normal range, may accelerate endothelial dysfunction and central arterial stiffness and thus increase BP.…”

“…8,9,12,13 Moreover, very few previous studies have examined the relationship between thyroid function (including thyroid antibody levels) and central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). 14 The present population-based study aimed to investigate the association between thyroid function and peripheral and central BP and arterial stiffness, as assessed by carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) and brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV).…”

Central and peripheral blood pressures and arterial stiffness increase in hypoparathyroidism

“…We preferred arterial stiffness measurement to detect cardiovascular risk in the patients with hypoparathyroidism. Since validity and reliability of this method was shown in many studies, we also used it to detect cardiovascular risk in some endocrinological diseases in our previous studies (32)(33)(34)(35). Increase of the experiences and researches on this topic shows that arterial stiffness method which is easy and noninvasive to implement shall gradually enter into medical practice routine.…”