• Juarez Neuhaus Barbisan, Flávio Danni Fuchs, and Beatriz D'Agord Schaan.
• Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul/Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2003 Jul 1;121(4):159-62.

ContextAtrial fibrillation occurs frequently in patients with thyrotoxicosis, while it has low prevalence in adults of the general population. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in subjects with atrial fibrillation is 0 to 24%, a wide variation that is attributed to the different methodologies applied. However, continuous use of amiodarone in patients with previous atrial fibrillation may interfere with these prevalence rates.ObjectiveIn this study, we present the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in adult patients who presented at a cardiac emergency room with acute atrial fibrillation, using a sensitive thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) assay and triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) determination.Type Of StudyCross-sectional study.SettingEmergency room of a tertiary care facility.ParticipantsA total of 72 patients with atrial fibrillation who presented at the emergency room not more than 48 hours after its onset.ProceduresA standardized questionnaire and 12-lead electrocardiogram were applied, and T3, T4 and TSH were determined.Main MeasurementsTSH, T3 and T4 determination.ResultsAmong these patients, 16.6% had altered thyroid function tests: 6.9% had hyperthyroidism, 5.6% hypothyroidism and 4.2% had increased T4 levels, by means of amiodarone use.ConclusionThe high prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in our study, especially hyperthyroidism, suggests that routine thyroid testing with sensitive thyroid-stimulating hormone assay is required in patients with acute atrial fibrillation.

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