Nishita Shetty, Vasudeva Acharya, Mohammed Fahad Khan
BACKGROUND Thyrotoxicosis may present with different cardiovascular manifestations varying from sinus tachycardia to life threatening arrhythmias and heart failure and prevalence of these features differs with various aetiologies of thyrotoxicosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study included 75 subjects with thyrotoxicosis. Clinical and biochemical assessment, ECG and echocardiogram were done. The aetiology of thyrotoxicosis was determined by technetium 99 uptake thyroid scan. The cardiovascular manifestations were compared among subjects with different aetiologies. RESULTS Thyrotoxicosis was due to Grave’s disease in 55 subjects, Multi-Nodular Goiter (MNG) and thyroiditis in 10 subjects each. Sinus tachycardia was the commonest manifestation. Atrial Fibrillation (AF) was observed in 8 subjects and all of them had enlarged atria. Thirty percent of subjects with MNG had AF whereas it was seen only in 5.45% among subjects with Grave’s disease. CONCLUSION Palpitations and sinus tachycardia were common manifestations of thyrotoxicosis. However serious manifestations were less common and atrial fibrillation was the commonest arrhythmia observed.
