The Role of Doppler Ultrasonography in the Evaluation of the Relationship Between Vertigo and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to assess the relationship between cases of vertigo and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) using vascular flow measured with vertebral Doppler ultrasonography (US). Materials and Methods: Patient cases that underwent vertebral Doppler US, thyroid hormone, and autoantibody tests between January 2020 and November 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis cases with associated vertigo were classified as the patient group, and other cases without vertigo and a known disease were the control group. A total of 184 patient cases were reviewed. Results: The HT patient group comprised 82 cases, and the control group comprised 102 cases. The median age was 43 years, and the interquartile range was 59 for all cases. The median total vertebral artery flow rate was 289.30 mL/min in the patient group and 278.35 mL/min in the control group, with no statistical difference ( P > .05). Conclusion: This study is the first to compare patients with HT and vertigo and measure vertebral vascular flow using Doppler US. This study demonstrates that vertigo in HT cases may not be due to vertebrobasilar insufficiency. The vertebral flow in the cohort was normal, and vertigo may have resulted from the autoimmune system.