Epicardial adipose tissue increased in patients with newly diagnosed subclinical hypothyroidism.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether or not patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) have increased epicardial adipose tissue (EAT).


METHODS
Sixty-one patients with newly diagnosed SH and without any known cardiovascular disease were enrolled. Twenty-four subjects matched for age, gender and body mass index without any thyroid dysfunctions were included as a control group. The EAT was measured by echocardiography and thyroid functions were assessed by routine blood examination.


RESULTS
Patients with SH had higher EAT values than control subjects (3.6 ± 0.9 vs. 2.8 ± 1.4, p = 0.005). Also, SH patients with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) ≥10 mU/l had higher EAT than those with SH with TSH <10 mU/l and control subjects (p = 0.013). In addition, while there was significant correlation between EAT and TSH (r = 0.31, p = 0.014) in patients with SH, there was no significant relation between EAT and TSH in normal subjects (r = 0.09, p = 0.64).


CONCLUSIONS
There was a higher level of EAT in patients with SH compared with normal subjects and a significant correlation between EAT and TSH was found.
Department of Cardiology, Ahi Evren Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey. l.korkmaz@yahoo.com
Levent
L
Korkmaz
Sinan
S
Sahin
Ali Riza
AR
Akyuz
Murat
M
Ziyrek
Inan
I
Anaforoglu
Mustafa
M
Kose
Hakan
H
Erkan
Mustafa Tarık
MT
Ağaç
Zeydin
Z
Acar
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010496:Pericardium; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests