ИСТИНА

BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is very common in clinical practice and there is some evidence that it may be associated with cardiovascular disease. Its impact on arterial function is less clear. The association between arterial stiffness increasing and mortality in patients with arterial hypertension (AH) is well recognized. AIM of the present study was to examine if subclinical hypothyroid hypertensive women had increased arterial stiffness. METHODS: 40 females with AH (20 pts with normal thyroid function (control) and 20 with SCH) underwent brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWVba) measurements for evaluation of arterial stiffness. Mean thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and FT4 were respectively 6.9±2.9 mU/ml and 15.2±2.8 pmol/L in SCH pats. RESULTS: Hypothyroid patients demonstrated higher PWVba (15.0±2.4m/s vs 13.3±2.3m/s, p=0.016). There were no differences in age (65.1±6.9 years vs 64.5±6.7 years, p=0.397) and systolic pressure (135.7±19.0 vs 137.2±18.2, p=0.401) between SCH patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Hypothyroidism, even in subclinical stage, is associated with changes in arterial stiffness. Significant changes of arterial stiffness were observed in subjects with TSH range 4.01-10.0 mU/ml suggesting that even early stage of mild thyroid failure is associated with increased cardiovascular risk.