Assessment of the Cardiovascular Risk in Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Background: The decision about whether to screen patients for subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is clouded by inconsistent evidence of association of dyslipidemia and other risk factors of cardiovascular disease with SCH and also any benefit from early treatment. Objective: To determine whether the known risk factors of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, increase in fasting blood glucose and lipid abnormalities are more significant in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism when compared with those in euthyroid individuals and to find out any correlation between the TSH levels and lipid profile parameters in subclinical hypothyroidism subjects. Methods: A total of 60 subjects comprising 30 subclinical hypothyroidism patients and 30 age & sex matched healthy controls were included in the study. In all the subjects BMI, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile tests were analyzed by standard methods. Results: We found that, serum mean levels of diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides were significantly higher in SCH patients than in controls and were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The percentage of subjects having higher BMI, hypertension, elevated TC, LDL, TG, and decreased HDL was higher in SCH patients than in controls. Among the SCH patients, TSH levels were positively correlated with that of total cholesterol and triglycerides. Conclusion: There were higher prevalence rates for hypertension, elevated triglycerides, an undesirable lipid profiles in SCH patients in our study which seem to increase the cardiovascular risk and weigh in favour of treatment of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.