Arterial stiffness in hyperthyroid patients is deteriorated due to thyroid hormones

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Endocrinology
• Vascular Medicine

Background:

• Arterial stiffness is a key indicator of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
• Thyroid hormone levels significantly influence cardiovascular function.
• Understanding arterial stiffness in hyperthyroidism is crucial for risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare arterial stiffness in patients with overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, and euthyroidism under antithyroid therapy against healthy controls.
• To assess the relationship between arterial stiffness parameters and thyroid hormone levels.

Main Methods:

• Employed pulse wave analysis (PWA) using the Mobil-O-Graph device for cuff-based oscillometric measurements.
• Included 102 participants: 30 overt hyperthyroid, 28 subclinical hyperthyroid, 14 euthyroid on therapy, and 30 healthy controls.
• Measured parameters included systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate-corrected augmentation index (Aix@75), and pulse wave velocity (PWV).

Main Results:

• Hyperthyroid groups exhibited significantly higher PWV, central systolic blood pressure, and cardiac output compared to controls.
• Subclinical hyperthyroidism also showed elevated heart rate and PWV versus controls.
• Aix@75 correlated negatively with TSH and positively with free thyroid hormones, indicating a direct impact of thyroid status on arterial properties.

Conclusions:

• Both overt and subclinical increases in thyroid hormones adversely affect arterial stiffness.
• Arterial stiffness is directly correlated with thyroid hormone levels.
• PWV measurement is a valuable and simple tool for detecting CVD risk in patients with thyroid dysfunction.