Skin findings in autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid disease with respect to thyroid functional status and healthy controls

Abstract

Background/aim: Thyroid disorders are associated with a wide variety of skin disorders that respond to treatment of hormone imbalance in most cases and thus are of vital importance to dermatologists. This study aimed to evaluate skin findings associated with autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid disease with respect to thyroid functional status and healthy controls. Materials and methods: A total of 300 consecutive patients with either autoimmune (n = 173) or nonautoimmune (n = 127) thyroid disease and 100 healthy control subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. Data on patient demographics, thyroid function tests, and skin findings were recorded for patient and control groups. Results: Compared to control subjects, patients had higher proportions in populations with alopecia (P < 0.001), nail thinning (P = 0.02), brittle nails (P = 0.001), pruritus (P < 0.001), diffuse hyperhidrosis (P = 0.01), flushing (P = 0.001), and xerosis (P < 0.001). Onycholysis (P = 0.02), yellow skin (P = 0.04), periorbital edema (P = 0.03), psoriasis (P = 0.001), and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis (P = 0.007) were significantly more common in patients with autoimmune than nonautoimmune thyroid disease. A significantly higher percentage of patients with autoimmune rather than nonautoimmune thyroid disease had overall skin findings (P = 0.03) among the hyperthyroid patients. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the presence of skin findings in a majority of thyroid patients significantly differs for certain cutaneous manifestations with respect to controls, autoimmune etiology, and thyroid functional status.