The Evaluation of Epicardial Fat Thickness and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in the Patients with Subclinical and Overt Hypothyroidism

Bacgrounds: The studies conducted have shown that epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) are closely associated with cardiovascular diseases and that this may be an indicator for the prediction of early atherosclerosis. In this study, we have attempted to identify EFT and CIMT in patients with hypothyroidism and to reveal the relationship between them and thyroid hormones.Material and method: 82 patients diagnosed with primary hypothyroidism and 37 patients from healthy control group were included in the study. The subclinic hypothyroidism group (SH) was made up of 50 patients; the overt hypothyroidism group (OH) was composed of 32 patients. Cases’ thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), FT3, FT4, thyroperoxidase antibodies (anti-tpo) and anti-tiroglobulin antibodies (anti-tg) were studied. Their EFT and CIMT values were measured. The statistical analysis was applied to EFT and CIMT. Results: Compared with the CG, the thickness of epicardial fat tissue increased in OH and SH groups (p