Menopause Review (Dec 2010)

Analiza obrazu klinicznego niedoczynności tarczycy u kobiet w okresie menopauzy

  • Beata Matuszek,
  • Katarzyna Strawa-Zakościelna,
  • Aleksandra Pyzik,
  • Dariusz Duma,
  • Andrzej Nowakowski,
  • Tomasz Paszkowski

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 6
pp. 390 – 396

Abstract

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The objective of this retrospective study was to analyze the clinical picture of hypothyroidism in women, inrelation to their menopausal status. Materials and methods: A total of 694 female ambulatory patients were divided into 3 groups: group I – 258menstruating patients aged up to 45, group II – 124 perimenopausal patients aged between 46 and 52, group III– 312 postmenopausal patients aged over 52. Medical documentation of the patients with hypothyroidism wasevaluated in terms of the selected features of their medical history and clinical picture of the disease. Results: The main cause of hypothyroidism was the chronic autoimmune thyroid gland inflammation; ingroup I it concerned 62.8% of patients, in the remaining two groups it was 50.0% and 51.6%, respectively. Analysing the prevalence of clinical symptoms it was found that the most frequent ones were: weight gain (18.6%),weakness (16.3%) and drowsiness (14.7%). In group II the prevailing symptoms were: hypertension (37.1%),weight gain (21.8%), drowsiness and weakness (12.1%) whereas in group III hypertension (60.3%), symptoms ofischemic heart disease (24.4%) and weight gain (14.4%) were dominant. Mean daily doses of levothyroxine usedin the 3 groups of patients were 90 μg, 81 μg ,74 μg, respectively. In women from groups II and III, a lipid balancedisorder (hypercholesterolemia) was observed significantly more often than in younger patients. Conclusions: Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed most frequently in postmenopausal women. The main causeof hypothyroidism was the chronic autoimmune thyroid gland inflammation. In postmenopausal women unusualclinical symptoms of hyperthyroidism dominated, which resulted from the coexistence of other diseases,mainly cardiovascular disorders. A 24-hour long-dose of levothyroxine in postmenopausal women was lower ascompared to menstruating women. Hypercholesterolemia was a considerably frequent element of the clinicalpicture of hypothyroidism in postmenopausal women.

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