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Thyroidectomy increases BMI in subclinical hyperthyroidism
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After total thyroidectomy, patients with preoperative endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism experienced greater weight gain and increases in LDL cholesterol compared with patients who were euthyroid before surgery, study data show.
Bernard Corvilain, MD, PhD, of the department of endocrinology at Erasme University Hospital in Brussels, and colleagues evaluated 225 adults who underwent total thyroidectomy for a benign multinodular goiter to determine the changes in body weight and metabolic parameters after surgery. Follow-up was a mean of 26.1 months.
Participants were divided into groups based on their preoperative thyroid status: endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism (n = 74) and euthyroidism (n = 151).
After thyroidectomy, both groups experienced significant increases in body weight, according to the researchers. Compared with the euthyroid group, the endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism group had greater increases in absolute (P = .003) and relative (P = .002) increases in BMI.
Serum cholesterol value data were available for 103 participants; the endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism group had an increase in mean LDL level after thyroidectomy (P < .001), whereas there was no increase in the euthyroid group, the researchers wrote
In the multivariate model, preoperative thyroid-stimulating hormone level was the only factor associated with the postoperative BMI increase (P = .005) and postoperative LDL increase (P = .0012).
“After total thyroidectomy for a multinodular goiter, increases in weight and LDL cholesterol levels were observed in patients with preoperative [endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism] in comparison with patients with [euthyroid], with no differences in the postoperative TSH values and thyroid hormone substitution doses,” the researchers wrote. “Preoperative serum TSH was the main independent factor associated with body weight and serum cholesterol changes after thyroidectomy, suggesting that this observation is due to the correction of subclinical hyperthyroidism. Although confirmation is required in additional studies, our results strongly suggest that subclinical hyperthyroidism induces weight loss and a significant reduction in serum cholesterol levels and that a specific attention should be given to these metabolic parameters after thyroidectomy.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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