Assessment of Left Ventricular Function by 2D Speckle Tracing Imaging in Patients with Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Objective: To evaluate cardiac functions in patients with Subclinical Hypothyroidism by 2D Echocardiography and Speckle Tracking Imaging. Background: Heart is a major target organ for thyroid hormone action. Subclinical thyroid disease has been associated with systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction and previous studies have shown that thyroxin replacement improved cardiac function in subjects with SH. Patients and methods: we prospectively included 50 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) (Group I; 16 male, 34 female, Mean ± SD age: 34.08 ± 9.66 years) and the control group included 75 healthy volunteers (30 male, 45 female, Mean ± SD age: 31.47 ± 7.99 years). Left ventricular (LV) functions were assessed with speckle tracking imaging. Results: Age and sex distributions were similar among the two groups. Mean serum TSH was13.01 ± 6.91 μIU/mL for group I and 1.64 ± 0.58 μIU/mL for group II and free T4 levels were 1.138 ± 0.186 ng/dL for group I and 1.172 ± 0.172 ng/dL for group II; (p=0.001, p=0.303). The SH patients had significantly lower LV strain values compared to controls, there was a highly significant statistical difference between the two groups with group I (patients) showing significant reduction in values (p-value=0.001). Conclusion: The Global LV Peak Longitudinal Strain is significantly reduced in patient with Subclinical Hypothyroidism comparing with the healthy control group.