ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Acta Phlebologica 2018 December;19(3):112-4

DOI: 10.23736/S1593-232X.18.00430-7

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Prevalence of hypothyroidism in adults with chronic venous insufficiency

Jorge ULLOA DOMINGUEZ ¹, Pedro F. LOPEZ ², Jorge H. ULLOA ³ ✉, Johanna SALAZAR ⁴, Anyelia PENAGOS ²

¹ Vascular Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia; ² University of Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; ³ Department of Surgery, Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia; ⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia

BACKGROUND: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) refers to several risk factors, which do not usually include hypothyroidism. To date, no conclusive studies evaluating the association between CVI and hypothyroidism, or the prevalence of hypothyroidism in CVI patients have been carried out.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done in order to evaluate if the patients with CVI had higher prevalence of hypothyroidism compared to the general population. We took a standardized clinical record form of the outpatient clinic in Vascular Surgery at a high complexity level hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, between June 2016 and June 2017, filtered by patients with CVI. We evaluated the presence of hypothyroidism by clinical record or thyroid supplement.
RESULTS: A total of 216 patients were enrolled in the study; 188 (87%) were female, and the most prevalent age range was 41-60 years old. Thirty-seven patients (17%) from the CVI patients had the presence of hypothyroidism and 41 patients (19%) had arterial hypertension.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the same risk factors described for CVI in the literature. There is a higher prevalence of hypothyroidism, 17%, in the patients with CVI compared to the 2-5% described for general population in the literature. Further studies are needed to conclude the possible association between CVI and hypothyroidism.

KEY WORDS: Venous insufficiency - Hypothyroidism - Varicose veins