Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Our aim was to assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in patients with controlled Graves’ disease (GD).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 95 consecutive patients with GD referred to our tertiary care inpatient clinical center meeting the following inclusion criteria: controlled hyperthyroidism, treatment with antithyroid drugs, untreated Graves’ orbitopathy (GO), if present. Patients’ anthropometric parameters were evaluated and laboratory tests were performed with measurement of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, thyroid hormone and antibody levels. The presence of the MetS and its components as defined by the International Diabetes Federation from 2009 were evaluated.

Results: In our patient cohort 82.1% were females, mean age 50.2±13 years, with median duration of GD 16.5 months. The MetS was observed in 32.6% of our patients, obesity – in 34.7%, hyperglycemia in 38.9%, arterial hypertension – in 36.8%, low HDL-cholesterol – in 23.2% and hypertriglyceridemia – in 13.7%. At the time of the inclusion in the study 33.7% of the patients were on antihypertensive therapy, 10.5% were on antidiabetic therapy and 6.3% were on antilipidemic therapy. There was not statistical difference neither between the prevalence of the MetS, nor between the prevalence of its individual components in female and male GD patients. The MetS was significantly more frequent in older patients, as well as abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia and arterial hypertension. There was not statistical difference in the frequency of the MetS and its components between GD patients with and without GO, except for waist circumference, which was significantly higher in patients with GO,

Conclusions: The presence of the MetS and its components among GD patients are to great extent similar to those reported in general population, except for dyslipidemia. Both hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia are often underdiagnosed and undertreated in GD patients. There were age-related differences regarding the proportion of GD patients with the MetS, obesity, hyperglycemia and arterial hypertension. The presence of GO does not affect the frequency of the MetS in the population of patients with GD. These findings underline the need for screening for the MetS and its components and their proper treatment in GD patients, especially the older ones.