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Volume 4 No. 1, January 2009 |
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Thyroid Disorders in
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients in Saudi Arabia Department of Internal Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Aim: To examine the prevalence of thyroid disease in patients
with Lupus erythematosus in Saudi Arabia. Racial differences of
patients, predictors of thyroid dysfunction and of mortality are
assessed. Patients & Methods: 35 patients treated for SLE at the
University Hospital in Jeddah were reviewed. Clinical
manifestations, laboratory values as well as TSH and T4 values were
extracted and the outcome recorded. Variables predicting mortality
were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: Thyroid
function tests were ordered in the 35 patients. 15 (42%) of the
patients showed elevated TSH with normal T4 value, one (3%) had
manifest hypothyroidism (elevated TSH with low T4), and one (3%) had
manifest hyperthyroidism. The rate of latent hyperthyroidism was
similar in the different ethnic groups. 19 % of the patients with
latent hypothyroidism died whereas the mortality in the remaining
patients was only 9%. In a multivariate analysis male sex, skin
involvement, neurological involvement and African descend were
significantly associated with higher mortality. Elevated TSH values
were not associated with increased mortality in this model.
Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of thyroid dysfunction,
especially of latent hypothyroidism, in SLE patients in Saudi
Arabia. Laboratory screening for the condition is warranted in all
SLE patients.
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