Thyroid Hormon Levels in Patients with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (original) (raw)

2007, European Journal of General Medicine

INTRODUCTION Abnormalities in thyroid hormone regulation are encountered frequently in nonthyroidal diseases; these include normal or decreased total and free thyroxine (TT4 and FT4 respectively), decreased total (TT3) and free (FT3) triiodothyronine along with usually normal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels (1). These changes have been observed primarily in critical illness, such as starvation, sepsis, surgery, or myocardial infarction, but also in diverse chronic, systemic conditions, i.e., in chronic heart failure, chronic liver or hematological diseases, cancer, diabetes, and in connective tissue disorders (2-4). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality throughout the world, leading to years of suffering and premature death from it or its complications (5). The severity of airway obstruction in COPD is associated with impairment of thyroid gland function (6). There is an apparent clinical resemblance between a hyperthyroid state and advanced COPD. Early detection of thyroid disturbances may therefore be clinically