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Does hypothyroidism affect gastrointestinal motility?
Olga Yaylali1, Suna Kirac, Mustafa Yilmaz
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Doktorlar Caddesi no. 42, Denizli 20100, Turkey. olgataskaya@yahoo.com
Background:
Gastrointestinal motility and serum thyroid hormone levels are closely related. Our aim was to analyze whether there is a disorder in esophagogastric motor functions as a result of hypothyroidism.
Materials And Methods:
The study group included 30 females (mean age +/- SE 45.17 +/- 2.07 years) with primary hypothyroidism and 10 healthy females (mean age +/- SE 39.40 +/- 3.95 years). All cases underwent esophagogastric endoscopy and scintigraphy. For esophageal scintigraphy, dynamic imaging of esophagus motility protocol, and for gastric emptying scintigraphy, anterior static gastric images were acquired.
Results:
The mean esophageal transit time (52.56 +/- 4.07 sec for patients; 24.30 +/- 5.88 sec for controls; P = .02) and gastric emptying time (49.06 +/- 4.29 min for the hypothyroid group; 30.4 +/- 4.74 min for the control group; P = .01) were markedly increased in cases of hypothyroidism.
Conclusion:
Hypothyroidism prominently reduces esophageal and gastric motor activity and can cause gastrointestinal dysfunction.
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