To the Editor;
I appreciate your reviewing and commenting on the article. As you mentioned, there are contrasting studies on the relationship between thyroid function tests and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and routine thyroid testing is not recommended in OSA patients.1,2 Therefore, routine thyroid screening was not performed when planning our study. However, when we re-analyzed our data, we found that 12 of our study population were on medication for hypothyroidism, but thyroid function tests were normal within the last 6 months in these patients.3 In addition, there was no difference in the presence of plaque in these 12 patients compared to other patients. As you mentioned, hypothyroidism has the potential to affect atherosclerosis especially through dyslipidemia. To this end, studies to investigate the association of OSA and hypothyroidism with the process related to atherosclerosis may provide us with valuable information on this subject.
REFERENCES
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