Thyroid Disorders in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Mustafa Yakut, Yusuf Üstün, Gökhan Kabacan, Irfan Soykan

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DOI: 10.4236/ijcm.2011.22018                

Abstract

Background: The rate of thyroid disorders is reported to be increased in patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) than the normal population. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalance of Thyroid disorders in a group of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Material and Methods: 146 IBD patients (113 UC and 33 CD patients) and 66 healthy control subjects were enrolled into the study. Serum free T4 (FT4), free T3 (FT3), TSH and anti TPO levels of the patients were analyzed retrospectively and and compared with a control group. These cases were also investigated with thyroid ultrasound and nuclear (scintigraphy) imaging. Results: The mean age of IBD patients (76 women) was 42.9 ± 12.4 years. Among the control group 42 were female and their mean age was 40.9 ± 12.1 years. Thyroid gland disease was found in 14 (9.5%, 8 female, 6 male) of 146 IBD patients. The frequency of thyroid disorders has been found to be higher than the control group in patients with control group (14/146 vs. 1/66, p = 0.042). No statistically significant difference has been observed at the thyroid disorder rates between the UC and CD patients (11/113 vs. 3/33, p = 0.912). Hashimoto thyroiditis has been found at 4 (2.7%) of the IBD patients. Conclusion: In accordance with several works published in literature, we have found a higher rate of thyroid disease apperance at IBD patients.

Keywords

Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Thyroid Disorders

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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