Introduction:

Subclinical hypothyroidism is related to cardiovascular alterations such as subclinical carotid atherosclerosis due to endothelial damage as a consequence of various factors, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) being a recognized marker, whose elevation is frequently mentioned in association with this thyroid dysfunction.

Objective:

To determine the effects of replacement therapy in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism in CIMT.

Methods:

An intervention study was carried out in 94 patients diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism, who did not have substitutive treatment. They were treated in Endocrinology consultation at 10 de Octubre hospital. These subjects underwent determination of TSH, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, cholesterol HDL, triglycerides. They got carotid ultrasound at the beginning of the study and one year after achieving euthyroid status with replacement treatment, to establish differences in the parameters evaluated before and after replacement treatment.

Results:

Prior to treatment, hypercholesterolemia was found in 87.2% of patients and hypertriglyceridemia in 38.3%, while elevated LDL cholesterol and decreased HDL cholesterol values were found in 55.3% and 19. .3% of them, CIMT was within the normal range. After treatment with levothyroxine, all the mean values of the parameters studied were modified, except in the case of triglycerides.

Conclusions:

Subclinical hypothyroidism replacement therapy has beneficial effects on CIMT, which could be secondary, among other factors, to the improvement of the lipid profile.

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