International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Mar 2022)

Hypothyroidism does not lead to worse prognosis in COVID-19: findings from the Brazilian COVID-19 registry

  • Daniella Nunes Pereira,
  • Leticia Ferreira Gontijo Silveira, MD, PhD,
  • Milena Maria Moreira Guimarães,
  • Carísi Anne Polanczyk,
  • Aline Gabrielle Sousa Nunes,
  • André Soares de Moura Costa,
  • Barbara Lopes Farace,
  • Christiane Corrêa Rodrigues Cimini,
  • Cíntia Alcantara de Carvalho,
  • Daniela Ponce,
  • Eliane Würdig Roesch,
  • Euler Roberto Fernandes Manenti,
  • Fernanda Barbosa Lucas,
  • Fernanda d'Athayde Rodrigues,
  • Fernando Anschau,
  • Fernando Graça Aranha,
  • Frederico Bartolazzi,
  • Giovanna Grunewald Vietta,
  • Guilherme Fagundes Nascimento,
  • Helena Duani,
  • Heloisa Reniers Vianna,
  • Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães,
  • Jamille Hemétrio Salles Martins Costa,
  • Joanna d'Arc Lyra Batista,
  • Joice Coutinho de Alvarenga,
  • José Miguel Chatkin,
  • Júlia Drumond Parreiras de Morais,
  • Juliana Machado-Rugolo,
  • Karen Brasil Ruschel,
  • Lílian Santos Pinheiro,
  • Luanna Silva Monteiro Menezes,
  • Luciana Siuves Ferreira Couto,
  • Luciane Kopittke,
  • Luís César de Castro,
  • Luiz Antônio Nasi,
  • Máderson Alvares de Souza Cabral,
  • Maiara Anschau Floriani,
  • Maíra Dias Souza,
  • Marcelo Carneiro,
  • Maria Aparecida Camargos Bicalho,
  • Mariana Frizzo de Godoy,
  • Matheus Carvalho Alves Nogueira,
  • Milton Henriques Guimarães Júnior,
  • Natália da Cunha Severino Sampaio,
  • Neimy Ramos de Oliveira,
  • Pedro Ledic Assaf,
  • Renan Goulart Finger,
  • Roberta Xavier Campos,
  • Rochele Mosmann Menezes,
  • Saionara Cristina Francisco,
  • Samuel Penchel Alvarenga,
  • Silvana Mangeon Mereilles Guimarães,
  • Silvia Ferreira Araújo,
  • Talita Fischer Oliveira,
  • Thulio Henrique Oliveira Diniz,
  • Yuri Carlotto Ramires,
  • Evelin Paola de Almeida Cenci,
  • Thainara Conceição de Oliveira,
  • Alexandre Vargas Schwarzbold,
  • Patricia Klarmann Ziegelmann,
  • Roberta Pozza,
  • Caroline Scherer Carvalho,
  • Magda Carvalho Pires,
  • Milena Soriano Marcolino

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 116
pp. 319 – 327

Abstract

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Background: It is not clear whether previous thyroid diseases influence the course and outcomes of COVID-19. Methods: The study is a part of a multicentric cohort of patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from 37 hospitals. Matching for age, sex, number of comorbidities, and hospital was performed for the paired analysis. Results: Of 7,762 patients with COVID-19, 526 had previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and 526 were matched controls. The median age was 70 years, and 68.3% were females. The prevalence of comorbidities was similar, except for coronary and chronic kidney diseases that were higher in the hypothyroidism group (p=0.015 and p=0.001). D-dimer levels were lower in patients with hypothyroid (p=0.037). In-hospital management was similar, but hospital length-of-stay (p=0.029) and mechanical ventilation requirement (p=0.006) were lower for patients with hypothyroidism. There was a trend of lower in-hospital mortality in patients with hypothyroidism (22.1% vs 27.0%; p=0.062). Conclusion: Patients with hypothyroidism had a lower requirement of mechanical ventilation and showed a trend of lower in-hospital mortality. Therefore, hypothyroidism does not seem to be associated with a worse prognosis.

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