Evaluation of Hypothyroidism in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease in Western Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: Chronic kidney disease (CKD)  determined by permanent kidney damage. Due to the similarity of clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism with CKD, hypothyroidism may be neglected and remain untreated. The goal of our study was to evaluate the rate of hypothyroidism in CKD patients who need hemodialysis.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional research. The sampling method was census and included all CKD patients in need of hemodialysis, who had undergone hemodialysis for at least three months. Serum levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T₃) hormones were measured in these patients, then the collected data were statistically analyzed.
Results: We studied 108 patients, 58 males (53.7%) and 50 females (46.3%). The mean age of the patients was 61.09 ± 13.45 years. The mean serum levels of hormones were as follows: TSH:1.64±1.78 µIL/ml,  T3:0.88 ± 0.2ng/dl, and  T4:7.7±1.6 µg/dl.
In this study, 7.4% of the patients had high TSH levels, 3.7% of the patients had decreased T4 levels and 10.2% of the patients had lower than normal T3 levels.
Conclusion: The rate of hypothyroidism in CKD patients who needed hemodialysis was higher than the normal population. It is recommended that serum TSH, and T4 levels in CKD patients be measured regularly to detect subclinical hypothyroid cases.

Keywords: Chronic kidney disease, Hypothyroidism, Hemodialysis, Western Iran