Discriminatory value of carotid artery elasticity changes for the evaluation of thyroid dysfunction in patients with hashimoto's thyroiditis.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the discriminatory value of carotid artery wall thickness and elasticity for thyroid dysfunction in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) patients.

METHODS

A total of 180 female HT patients were assigned to three groups on the basis of laboratory testing: HT hyperthyroidism group (group A), HT hypothyroidism group (group B), and HT euthyroid group (group C). We used radiofrequency sonographic signal analysis for the measurement of intima-media thickness and arterial stiffness.

RESULTS

Intima-media thickness was significantly higher in group A than in other groups. After stepwise variable selection, distensibility coefficient (DC), compliance coefficient, stiffness index (β), and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were selected to discriminate different thyroid hormone levels, resulting in the following discriminant function: Z1 = -0.398DC + 0.803PWV. The receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis showed that the critical points were DC = 0.022 kPa(-1) and PWV = 5.36 m/s for HT hyperthyroidism, and DC = 0.016 kPa(-1) and PWV = 6.875 m/s for HT hypothyroidism.

CONCLUSIONS

DC and PWV may be useful for the evaluation of thyroid function in HT patients. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 44:298-304, 2016.