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Hypothyroidism increased mortality risk in patients with congestive HF
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Patients with congestive heart failure and subclinical hypothyroidism or hypothyroidism may be at greater risk for death, according to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Connie Rhee, MD, MSc, and colleagues analyzed the association between subclinical hypothyroidism and overall hypothyroidism and all-cause mortality in participants of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were stratified by congestive heart failure and race.
“A one-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate for assessing risk and determining whether treatment is required for subclinical hypothyroidism,” Rhee said in a press release.
The study included 14,310 euthyroid controls and 749 participants with hypothyroidism, 691 of whom had subclinical disease, according to the abstract.
Participants with congestive heart failure (CHF) and subclinical hypothyroidism had a greater risk for mortality (HR=1.44; 95% CI, 1.01-2.06) compared with euthyroid patients without CHF (HR=0.97; 95% CI, 0.85-1.11). According to the researchers, comparable results were found among participants with hypothyroidism overall (HR=1.47; 95% CI, 1.05-2.05 for hypothyroidism vs. HR=0.95; 95% CI, 0.83-1.09 for euthyroidism), and hypothyroidism overall vs. euthyroidism was associated with greater mortality in black participants (HR=1.44; 95% CI, 1.03-2.03) but not participants of other races (HR=0.95; 95% CI, 0.83-1.08).
“This study is the first to show that African Americans who have hypothyroidism face a greater risk of death than patients of other racial and ethnic groups,” Rhee said in the release. “This elevated risk exists despite the fact that hypothyroidism is less common in the African-American population compared to other groups. More research is needed to confirm these findings and to determine the underlying reasons why hypothyroidism has a differential impact on people of different race and ethnicity.”
Disclosure: This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
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