Study Looks at Impact of Peritoneal Dialysis on Thyroid Function

Sep 24, 2024

MONDAY, Sept. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) have significantly higher thyroxine (T4) concentrations than hemodialysis (HD) patients and higher free T4 (FT4) concentrations at 12 and 24 months, according to a study published online Sept. 7 in Seminars in Dialysis.

Jelić Pranjić Ita, M.D., from the University Hospital Center Rijeka in Croatia, and colleagues conducted a prospective single-center study to examine thyroid function in 18 PD patients during a 24-month period. Data were compared to those from concurrently treated HD patients.

The researchers found that some of the PD patients had elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone levels initially, which normalized during follow-up, despite longer duration of dialysis. PD patients had significantly higher T4 concentrations at baseline and higher FT4 concentrations at 12 and 24 months compared with HD patients. At baseline and at 12 and 24 months, free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels were significantly higher; after the beginning of the study, T3 levels were within the reference interval. In PD patients, there was a positive association between T4 levels and 24-hour diuresis after 12 months.

“PD’s continuous nature offers the benefit of better preservation of residual kidney function and gradual toxin removal,” the authors write. “However, the complete precise factors influencing potential differences in survival have not been fully elucidated.”

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