A retrospective study on hypothyroid patients

A retrospective study of 58 hypothyroid patients attending the Endocrine Clinic, University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica, between July and August 1989, was undertaken. The age range at initial presentation varied from one month to eighty-four years. The majority of cases (51 or 87.9%) were between 21 and 70 years. There were 50 females (86.2%) and 8 males (13.8%). The underlying causes were idiopathic hypothyroidism (35 or 60.3%), posthyroidectomy (13 or 22.4%), post I131 therapy (6 or 10.4%), panhypopituitarism (3 or 5.2%), hypophysectomy (1 or 1.7%). Biochemical parameters used in diagnosis were serum thyroxine (T4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Forty-six patients (79.2%) had elevated TSH, indicative of a high correlation of elevated TSH with hypothyroidism. Duration of symptomatology prior to diagnosis was one year in 27 patients (46.5%), 2-10 years in 23 (39.6%) and 10 years in 4 cases (6.9%). The major presenting signs and symptoms were lethargy (20 or 34.5%), anaemia (mixed normochromic, microcytic (16 or 27.6%), slow relaxation of tendon reflexes (16 or 27.6%), coarsening of skin (15 or 25.9%), weight gain 10 or 17.2%), hoarseness (9 or 15.5%) and psychiatric symptoms (7 or 12%). The known association of primary hypothyroidism with other autoimmune disorders was not borne out in this study. The time-lapse in diagnosis from symptomatology emphasized the need for clinicians to be more alert to the subtle and varied presentation of hypothyroidism.