title: Thyroid function in hemodialysis.
abstract: The relevance of the biochemical evidence of hypothyroidism in patients on regular hemodialysis is debatable. Several indexes of thyroid function were assessed in 46 patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis for 2 to 45 months. Low serum levels of thyroxine were found in 69.5% of the patients studied and of triiodothyronine (T3) in 46.5%. Low values of T3-Sephadex binding were noted in 17.3%, of free thyroxine index (FTI) in 26.3% and of radioiodine uptake in 19.3% of the patients; 13.0% had high levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The overall incidence of hypothyroidism, based on FTI and TSH, was 34.8%. We concluded that the diagnosis of hypothyroidism should be based on FTI and TSH levels, and that chronically hemodialyzed patients tend to exhibit biochemical rather than clinical hypothyroidism.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000503:physiopathology*