Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pericarditis includes all inflammatory affections of the serous covering of the heart. The clinical expression and etiology of these disorders are highly variable. Of these, hypothyroidism is an important issue to recognize.

Objective: Find the frequency of pericardial effusion in primary hypothyroidism and appreciate its clinical and evolutionary characteristics.

Population and method: A retrospective study in 72 patients (54 W and 18 M), mean age 55.63 years (53.66 W, 61.5 M) hospitalized between 1996 and 2013 for primary hypothyroidism. Only patients who underwent cardiovascular assessment were selected. All patients underwent clinical examination, thyroid function, metabolic and cardiovascular exploration (chest radiography, cardiac electogram, cardiac Doppler). After replacement opotherapy, patients were reassessed.

Results: Pericardial effusion was found in 27.7%. It is small in abundance in 97.3%. One very important event effusion was observed. Pericarditis was frequently asymptomatic, discovered during the assessment of impact including in cases of great abundance. In 38.5% of cases moderate symptoms (precordialgia and dyspnea) were observed. Electrocardiographic disorders (diffuse microvoltage and repolarisation disorders) were observed in 80% of patients. Pericarditis was associated with hypertension in 50% of cases. The disappearance of the effusion and normalization of the cardiac electogram were observed in all patients after 3 months of opotherapy.

Discussion: Cardiovascular manifestations are often hidden and constants. They must be sought systematically because they have a significance prognostic. Pericardial effusion is found in one third of cases. It is usually asymptomatic. Major effusions are exceptional. Diastolic hypertension is described in 10–20% of women with hypothyroidism. Blood volume is decreased due to hypometabolism but peripheral vascular resistances are increased.