The prognostic impact of thyroid disorders on the clinical severity of COVID‐19: Results of single‐centre pandemic hospital

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection can cause thyroid hormonal disorders. In addition, tracheal compression by thyroid nodules can aggravate hypoxia in critically ill patients. No studies have investigated the effect of thyroid nodules on the prognosis of patients with COVID‐19. In this study, we investigated the effect of thyroid hormonal disorders and thyroid nodules on the prognosis of patients with COVID‐19. Materials and Methods This prospective study was conducted at the Şırnak State Hospital (Pandemic hospital in Turkey) between 15 March and 15 August 2020. We evaluated thyroid hormonal disorder and thyroid nodules in 125 patients who were admitted to the non‐intensive care unit (non‐ICU) due to mild COVID‐19 pneumonia (group 1) and 125 critically ill patients who were admitted to the ICU (group 2). Results Thyroid‐stimulating hormone levels (TSH) were not significantly different between groups 1 and 2; however, group 2 patients had significantly lower levels of free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) as compared to group 1 (P = .005, P