Relationship of thyroid dysfunction and its manifestations in diabetes mellitus patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: Both diabetes mellitus (DM) and thyroid dysfunction (TD) are endocrinopathies that are frequently inclined to coexist in patients. Most studies avoid explicitly supporting or opposing testing thyroid function for diabetic patients as a baseline. The association between hypothyroidism and diabetes is considerable when assessing thyroid functions in diabetic individuals based on clinical suspicion. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the relationship between thyroid dysfunction and its manifestations in DM patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study included 301 DM subjects. A questionnaire divided into two sections was administered to all participants. The first section involved questions about diabetes control, monitoring, and disease severity. The second section included questions about thyroid disease and the 14-item Hypothyroidism Clinical Prediction (HCP) score we created for our research. The HCP score was obtained by summing up all discrete scores for different symptoms of hypothyroidism. ROC curve analysis was used to assess the predicted hypothyroidism cases based on the most precise cut-off point for the HCP overall score (highest sensitivity and specificity). HCP discriminant ability for detecting hypothyroid cases was assessed considering the Area Under the Curve (AUC) as a measurement. RESULTS: Almost 53 (17.6%) diabetes mellitus subjects were previously diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Comparatively, regarding the given cut-off point, the total number of predicted hypothyroidism cases using the HCP score was 149 (49.5%). The most reported symptoms included tiredness (75%), followed by irritability (72%), and difficulty in losing weight (65%). Hypothyroidism was detected/predicted among 60.1% of female diabetics vs. 44.2% of males with recorded statistical significance (p=.006). CONCLUSIONS: This study further proves a significant association between diabetes and hypothyroidism in Saudi Arabia. We recommend periodic screening for thyroid dysfunction in the diabetic population in specific cases; since some patients with diabetes are more likely to have hypothyroidism based on their clinical presentation.

Amniotic fluid disorders and the effects on prenatal outcome: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The amniotic fluid is a protective liquid present in the amniotic sac. Two types of amniotic fluid disorders have been identified. First refers to polyhydramnios, which is an immoderate volume of amniotic fluid with an Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) greater than 24 cm. Second includes oligohydramnios, which refers to decreased AFI i.e., less than 5 cm. This study aims to; a) identify the maternal risk factors associated with amniotic fluid disorders, b) assess the effect of amniotic fluid disorders on maternal and fetal outcome c) examine the mode of delivery in pregnancy complicated with amniotic fluid disorders. METHODS: A comparative retrospective cohort study design is followed. Sample of 497 pregnant women who received care at King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz University Hospital (KAAUH) between January 2017 to October 2019 was included. Data were collected from electronic medical reports, and was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Association of qualitative variables was conducted by Chi-square test, where p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Among the collected data, 2.8% of the cases had polyhydramnios and 11.7% patients had oligohydramnios. One case of still born was identified. A statically significant association was found between polyhydramnios and late term deliveries (P = 0.005) and cesarean section (CS) rates (P = 0.008). The rate of term deliveries was equal in normal AFI and oligohydramnios group (P = 0.005). Oligohydramnios was mostly associated with vaginal deliveries (P = 0.008). Oligohydramnios and polyhydramnios were found to be associated with diabetes mellitus patients (P = 0.005), and polyhydramnios with gestational diabetes patients (P = 0.052). Other maternal chronic diseases showed no effect on amniotic fluid index, although it might cause other risks on the fetus. CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus and gestational diabetes are the most important maternal risk factors that can cause amniotic fluid disorders. Maternal and fetal outcome data showed that oligohydramnios associated with gestational age at term and low neonatal birth weight with high rates of vaginal deliveries, while polyhydramnios associated with gestational age at late term and high birth weight with higher rates of CS.