title: [Epidemiologic study of autoimmune thyroid disease in south Tunisia].
abstract: In order to study incidence and prevalence of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs), we studied a retrospective cohort of 1,079 patients explored in the department of Endocrinology of Sfax (south of Tunisia). The overall incidence of AITDs was 9.9%. Mean age was 39.6+15 years; sex ratio 5 F/1M. Graves' disease was the most frequent (45%). Atrophic thyroiditis was present in 32.2% of patients and Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 22.8%. The incidence of AITDs increased from 1990 to 2000 and by 2003 it had fallen to 67 cases per year. TPO antibody was present in two-thirds of patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis, and half of those with atrophic thyroiditis. TG antibodies were less frequent (one-third of patients). Association with other autoimmune diseases was noted in 6.3% of patients: type I diabetes mellitus, adrenal insufficiency and vitiligo. Statistic analysis did not disclose any association between autoantibody levels and thyroid dysfunction. There was an association between TG antibody and TSH levels among patients with Graves' disease and between TG antibody level and age in atrophic thyroiditis patients (p<0.05); a correlation was also noted between these antibodies and other autoimmune diseases (p=0.05). It is difficult to assess the frequency of ATD in the clinical setting. Characteristic features of AITDs in patients seen in south Tunisia were found to be similar to those described in the literature. Other more large-scale representative studies would be useful to establish the epidemiology of AITDs in Tunisia.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire Humaine, Faculté de Médecine, Avenue Majida Boulila 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chabchoub
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mnif
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maalej
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charfi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ayadi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abid
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies