Varun Dasegowdanapalya Gangaiah, Asha Rangadham
BACKGROUND Hypothyroidism, a frequent endocrine disorder affects ~11% of the Indians. Though there are studies reporting the co-occurrence of hypothyroidism and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), evidence-based literature is very limited. The aim of the study is to evaluate the occurrence and severity of PAH in patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism and to examine the reversibility of the disease on treating the underlying hypothyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS The prospective, interventional study was conducted at a tertiary care center in south India for a period of one year. Subjects with clinical and biochemical evidence of hypothyroidism were included in the study. Doppler echocardiography was used for diagnosing PAH in recruited subjects. Subjects with PAH were treated for the underlying hypothyroidism and a follow-up was conducted after 10 months. The subjects with and without PAH were compared for various clinical and demographic variables and their significance was studied. All the statistical analyses were performed using MedCalc software. P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS The study enrolled a total of 75 subjects with a mean age of 46.33 ± 13.98 years. Abnormal mean pulmonary artery pressure (mild and moderate) was noted only in 7 subjects. Variables like age, gender, goitre, T3 and T4 levels did not show significant variation between hypothyroid subjects with and without PAH. The follow-up conducted after 10 months of treatment for hypothyroidism demonstrated improvement in mean pulmonary artery pressure and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels in a remarkable number of hypothyroid subjects with PAH. CONCLUSION Further studies are needed to corroborate the association between PAH and hypothyroidism. Clinical variables like goitre, T3 and T4 may not be associated with the possible development of PAH in hypothyroidism.
