Echocardiographic evaluation of biventricular function in patients with euthyroid hashimoto's thyroiditis

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the left [LV] and right [RV] ventricular function in euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis [eHT] patients

Subjects and Methods:Forty-five patients diagnosed with eHT and 45 age- and gendermatched control subjects were enrolled in this study. Echocardiographic parameters reflecting RV and LV functions such as chamber dimensions, ejection fraction, fractional shortening, conventional and tissue Doppler-derived early and late filling velocities [E, A, E', A'], isovolumic relaxation [IVRT] and contraction [IVCT] times, ejection time [ET], deceleration time [DT], Tei index, pulmonary acceleration time [PAcT] and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion [TAPSE] of patients with eHT were compared to those of control subjects using the paired-samples t test or Wilcoxon signedrank test

Results:Regarding the LV function, compared to the controls patients with eHT had a higher LV-Tei index [0.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.4 +/- 0.1, p < 0.001], higher DT [p < 0.001] and IVRT [p < 0.001] values, and higher E/E' ratios [p = 0.04]. In contrast, the peak E wave velocity [p = 0.02], E/A ratio [p = 0.01] and ET [p = 0.02] were significantly lower in the eHT group than amongst the controls. The RV, Tei index [0.40 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.28 +/- 0.07, p < 0.001], TAPSE [2.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.2 mm, p < 0.001], PAcT [124.3 +/- 22.6 vs. 149.4 +/- 18.3 ms, p < 0.001], A' [p = 0.007] and IVCT [p = 0.001] were significantly higher in patients with eHT than the controls. However, the tricuspid E/A ratio [p = 0.01], E' [p = 0.03] and E'/A' ratio [p = 0.001] were significantly lower in the eHT patients than the control group

Conclusions:This study demonstrated that both RV and LV functions were impaired in patients with eHT

Xanthelasma is associated with an increased amount of epicardial adipose tissue

Objective: In the present study, we aimed to compare the amount of epicardial adipose tissue in subjects with and without xanthelasma

Subjects and Methods:Fifty-two subjects with xanthelasma and 52 age- and gender-matched control subjects were enrolled in this study. Epicardial adipose tissue was assessed by measuring epicardial fat thickness [EFT] with echocardiography. Participants were dichotomized according to median EFT, which was 4 mm. The group with EFT >4 mm was defined as the supramedian group. Body mass index [BMI] was calculated by weight [kilograms] divided by height [meters] squared. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to find independent factors associated with supramedian EFT [>4 mm]

Results: Subjects with xanthelasma had higher BMI [31.2 +/- 5.6 vs. 28.6 +/- 5.7, p = 0.01] and higher levels of total cholesterol [216 +/- 54 vs. 181 +/- 42 mg/dl, p < 0.001], LDL cholesterol [142 +/- 45 vs. 115 +/- 36 mg/dl, p = 0.003] and triglycerides [median, 154 vs. 101 mg/dl, p = 0.01] than control subjects. EFT was significantly higher in subjects with xanthelasma than in controls [5.04 +/- 2.02 vs. 3.81 +/- 2.03 mm, p = 0.002]. In the conditional logistic regression analysis, the presence of xanthelasma [OR, 3.55; 95% CI, 1.43-8.78, p = 0.006] and lower HDL cholesterol level [OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99, p = 0.023] were independently associated with supramedian EFT

Conclusion:The amount of epicardial adipose tissue found in subjects with xanthelasma was higher than in subjects without xanthelasma. In addition, the presence of xanthelasma was independently associated with supramedian EFT

Epicardial adipose tissue increased in patients with newly diagnosed subclinical hypothyroidism

To investigate whether or not patients with subclinical hypothyroidism [SH] have increased epicardial adipose tissue [EAT]. Sixty-one patients with newly diagnosed SH and without any known cardiovascular disease were enrolled. Twenty-four subjects matched for age, gender and body mass index without any thyroid dysfunctions were included as a control group. The EAT was measured by echocardiography and thyroid functions were assessed by routine blood examination. Patients with SH had higher EAT values than control subjects [3.6 +/- 0.9 vs. 2.8 +/- 1.4, p = 0.005]. Also, SH patients with thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH] >/= 10 mU/l had higher EAT than those with SH with TSH <10 mU/l and control subjects [p = 0.013]. In addition, while there was significant correlation between EAT and TSH [r = 0.31, p = 0.014] in patients with SH, there was no significant relation between EAT and TSH in normal subjects [r = 0.09, p = 0.64]. There was a higher level of EAT in patients with SH compared with normal subjects and a significant correlation between EAT and TSH was found