Frequency of thyroid nodule in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD)

Objective: In our study; we aimed to determine the frequency of thyroid nodules, which are very common in the general population, in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Materials and Methods: Our study was performed between 01.11.2019 and 31.12.2019 at Yuzuncu Yil University Faculty of Medicine, Dursun Odabaş Medical Center. 105 patients with COPD aged between 40-80 years were included in the study. According to the GOLD 2020 report, COPD was diagnosed and classified. A face‐to‐face interview was carried out to obtain information about patients' medical history and exposure history to tobacco and/or biomass fuel smoke. Height, weight, waist circumference and oxygen saturations of all subjects were measured. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and blood gas values of the participants were examined retrospectively from the patient electronic medical record system. Pulmonary function test and thyroid ultrasonography were performed on the patients. Presence, number, location, size of thyroid nodules, isthmus thickness and total thyroid volume were recorded. Results: 34 of the patients in our study were female and 71 were male. The mean age of the patients was 63.7 ± 9.4. The mean thyroid volume was 16.1 ± 9 mL. Thyroid nodules were detected in 69 (%65.7) of 105 patients. Percentages of patients with thyroid nodules according to Gold A, B, C, D groups were %18.8, %27.5, %20.3 and %33.3, respectively. The waist circumference of patients with thyroid nodules was statistically significantly higher than those without nodules (respectively; 109.6 ± 16.5 cm and 102.3 ± 18.7 cm; p: 0.044). It was observed that the BMIs increased as the patients progressed from GOLD group A to GOLD group D. It was determined that the waist circumference was positively correlated with the presence of nodules. In addition, there was a positive correlation between waist circumference with BMI, thyroid volume and isthmus thickness. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the frequency of thyroid nodules in COPD patients. In our study, we detected thyroid nodules in %65.7 of patients with COPD. We found that the increase in waist circumference was a risk factor for the presence of nodules.