Table 3.
Characteristics of the clinical sample with treated hypothyroidism in proven autoimmune thyroid disease and the healthy control group
|
Sample characteristics |
Treated patient group n = 18 |
Healthy control group n = 18 |
p
-value |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | ||
| Age (years) |
32.2 |
9.60 |
[18–54] |
32.1 |
8.90 |
[18–53] |
>0.1 |
| Sex (female/male) |
16/2 |
16/2 |
>0.1 |
||||
| TSH (mU/l)* |
1.96 |
1.42 |
[0.2 - 5.3] |
2.63 |
0.95 |
[0.9 - 5.0] |
<0.05 |
| fT3 (pmol/l)* |
4.28 |
0.62 |
[3.2 - 5.6] |
4.72 |
0.83 |
[3.2 - 6.3] |
=0.07 |
| fT4 (pmol/l)* |
18.2 |
1.61 |
[14–21] |
15.6 |
2.24 |
[14–23] |
<0.001 |
| TPOAb (U/ml)* |
140 |
132 |
[9–457] |
10.2 |
2.14 |
[7–14] |
<0.001 |
| TgAb (U/ml)* |
313 |
604 |
[5–2424] |
17.3 |
7.47 |
[5–36] |
<0.001 |
| Treatment duration (years) |
4.41 |
4.21 |
[1–15] |
not applicable |
|||
| Current dose (μg/day) | 96.5 | 29.6 | [50–150] | ||||
*laboratory values of initial blood sample, reference range was 0.4-4.0 for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), 3.1-6.79 for free Triiodothyronine (fT3), 12.8-20.4 for free Thyroxine (fT4), < 34 for Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOAb) and < 33 for Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb) [4,35]. Patients with slightly altered laboratory values that spontaneously recovered to the normal range in a second blood sample taken 3–6 months later were considered as thyroid healthy or adequately treated and included into the analysis. Abbreviaton: SD – Standard Deviation.