Increased carotid arterial stiffness in subclinical hypothyroidism

Objective: Arterial stiffness is involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease, and subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis. The present study was designed to examine whether SCH is associated with an increase in carotid arterial stiffness.

Methods: The carotid arterial stiffness parameter in 93 patients with SCH and 90 sex- and age-matched euthyroid volunteers was evaluated using a color Doppler ultrasound machine implemented with a high-resolution echo-tracking system.

Results: The participants with SCH had higher total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels than those who were euthyroid. Furthermore, carotid arterial stiffness β (β index) was significantly higher in SCH patients than in normal controls, and β index was significantly positively correlated with age, smoking index, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, TSH and hsCRP and significantly negatively correlated with pulse rate in subclinical hypothyroid patients.

Conclusions: Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with preclinical vascular alteration, characterized by increased carotid arterial stiffness values, which have been shown to be related to the hsCRP and TSH.