A study of biochemical profile of patients with hypothyroidism at tertiary health care center

 

G Lokendranath¹, S Srinivas², R Prabhakar Rao^3*

 

¹Associate Professor, ²Professor, ³Professor and HOD, Department of General Medicine, Santhiram Medical College and Hospital, Nandyal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.

Email: sphurthiom@yahoo.com 

 

Abstract              Background: Hypothyroidism is a syndrome characterized by clinical and biochemical manifestations which results from decreased production of thyroid hormones, or very rarely, from their decreased actions at the tissue level Aims and Objectives: To Study Biochemical Profile of patients with hypothyroidism at Tertiary health care center. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Patients with hypothyroidism admitted to KIMS, Hospital Hubli during April 2004 to march 2005, Diagnosis based on thyroid function test. Total of 40 cases of hypothyroidism patients who were admitted. The lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL) of hypothyroid patients was analyzed using student ‘t’ test. Result: The maximum incidence was noted in the age group of 30-49 with 55%. (22/40) of the patients being the this age group. This was almost similar in both female and male patients. Female to male ratio was 4:1. The mean age of the study population was 42.9 years with female being 43 years and male 42.5 years. All the patients had serum TSH level of more than 10 µU/L with a mean of 37.32 µU/L. the value was statistically significant. The mean total cholesterol was sigh with value of 241.6 mg/dl. The mean value for female patients was 246 mg/dl which was also high. The mean value for serum HDL-C was 45.2mg/ld with mean value for female patients being 45.84 mg/dl and for male patients 42.62 mg/dl. The mean value for serum LDL-C was high with 144.27 mg/dl with the mean value for female patients being 149.96 mg/dl which was also high and for male patients 121.5 mg/dl which was near optimal. The mean value serum VLDL-C was 49.09 mg/dl and it was 48.66 mg/dl for female and 50.8 mg/dl for male patients. The mean values for serum triglyceride level was 245.5 mg/dl, it was 243 mg/ld for female patients and 254mg/ld for male patients. Serum cholesterol level was high in 45% (18) of the patients and 30% (12) had borderline and 25% (10) desirable level according to ATPIII guidelines by NCEP. S. triglycerides level was high in 62.5% (25 no) of the patients. It was borderline in 22.5% (9 no) of the patients and 12.5% (5 no) had normal values. Only 2.5% (1 no) patients had very high triglycerides levels. Conclusion: Patients with hypothyroidism had significant increased levels of serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides and serum LDL-C. So it can be concluded that hypothyroidism is associated with increased in total cholesterol, serum triglycerides and serum LDL-C level. Hyperlipidemia contribute to increased risk of atherogenesis. Prudent substitution therapy with L-thyroxine is indicated in patients with hypothyroidism, with or without angina, to counteract the cardiovascular risk resulting from dyslipidemia.

Key Words: Biochemical Profile, hypothyroidism, Dyslipidemia, Lipid profile.