Pulmonary Functions in Patients with Subclinical Hypothyroidism
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Correspondence
Dr. Suchet Trigotra,
House No. 154, Sector 21, Panchkula-134112, Haryana, India.
E-mail: suchet.dr@gmail.com
Introduction: Hypothyroidism affects all organ systems of the human body including the respiratory system. Subclinical hypothyroidism is the earliest stage of hypothyroidism and has a high prevalence rate worldwide.
Aim: To assess the pulmonary function tests in female patients of subclinical hypothyroidism to find out lung function impairment if any.
Materials and Methods: The study comprised of 60 female participants (30 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism and 30 healthy controls) in the age-group of 20-40 years. Pulmonary function tests were performed by using computerised spirometer Helios 401 (RMS, Chandigarh). The parameters of the two groups were compared by student’s t-test and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The patients of subclinical hypothyroidism showed a highly significant reduction in Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) values and their predicted percentages as compared to healthy controls (p<0.001), Forced Expiratory Flow 25%-75% (FEF25-75%) and its predicted value was also significantly lower in patients than in controls (p<0.05), but the difference in values of FEV1/FVC% between two groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Pulmonary functions are affected in the patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. Therefore, pulmonary functions should be evaluated in subclinical hypothyroid patients to detect early respiratory dysfunction.