Sukesh R. S
BACKGROUND Primary Hypothyroidism is a common clinical condition. Majority of cases are autoimmune in nature. However iatrogenic causes like post thyroidectomy or post radio ablation cases are also present. This study was mainly conducted to evaluate the differences in the clinical features of both the groups. Autoimmune thyroiditis patients were selected based on the presence of antithyroid antibodies or histopathological diagnosis or both. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was carried out in the Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, for a period of 2 years. A total of 101 cases of primary hypothyroidism were studied. Of these, 69 cases were autoimmune thyroiditis, while the rest 32 cases of hypothyroidism were non-autoimmune cases. RESULTS The average age of patients in autoimmune group was 40.1 years and in non-autoimmune group was 46.75 years. In auto-immune group, 70% of patients were in the age group of 20-30 years; with presence of family history in 5.8% patients. Comorbid conditions were common in autoimmune thyroiditis patients, with rheumatoid arthritis being the most commonly present in 14.5%, while such comorbid conditions were occasional in non-autoimmune group. Goitre was associated with autoimmune thyroiditis patients with presence in 59.4% patients. (Table-1) CONCLUSION At the end of the study, there were no major differences seen in demographics or clinical presentation in both the groups. Substantial proportion of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis have comorbid conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes mellitus, ITP, megaloblastic anaemia, myasthenia gravis.
