Ultrasonographic Assessment of Intima-Media Thickness (IMT), as a Surrogate of Future Atherosclerosis and Cardiac Diseases in Patients with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Concomitant Celiac Disease: A Case-Control Study

Purpose: Intima-Media Thickness (IMT), which is frequently evaluated by B-mode ultrasound study, has been proved to be a reliable surrogate marker for atherosclerosis progression and a predictor of upcoming cardiovascular risks. Sonographic changes of intima-media thickness of carotid artery in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Celiac disease have been investigated separately. In this study we aimed to evaluate the changes in sonographic appearance of the carotid artery and its mural thickness in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and concomitant Celiac disease, as a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis and a predictor of cardiovascular diseases. Materials and Methods: A total of 191 patients including 89 patients with only Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, 11 patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and concomitant Celiac disease, and 91 healthy control subjects underwent ultrasound evaluation of intima-media thickness of carotid artery. High resolution B-mode images with a multi-frequency linear probe, were utilized for assessing the IMT. Results: IMT in the Hashimoto with celiac disease group was 0.72 ± 0.11 and was 0.69 ± 0.09 in the Hashimoto without celiac disease group and was 0.63 ± 0.10 in the control group. IMT showed significant difference between the three groups and was higher in the Hashimoto patients compared to the control group (P-Value = 0.039 and 0.028). Moreover, IMT was marginally higher in the Hashimoto patients with celiac disease compared to the Hashimoto patients without celiac disease (P-Value = 0.046). Conclusion: Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis suffering from concomitant Celiac disease, showed a more increased IMT values compared to other subjects. This can indicate the potential importance and predictive value of ultrasonic IMT evaluation in Celiac disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as a marker of atherosclerosis progression as well as future risk of cardiovascular insults.