Prevalence and Characteristics of Hyperthyroidism Among Patients With Sarcoidosis in the United States

Objective: We aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of self-reported hyperthyroidism in patients with sarcoidosis. Methods: A national registry-based study investigating 3836 respondents to the Sarcoidosis Advanced Registry for Cures questionnaire in the period between June 2014 and August 2019 was conducted. This registry is generated from a web-based questionnaire that is self-reported by patients with sarcoidosis. We compared patients with sarcoidosis who had hyperthyroidism with those who did not. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to study the association between hyperthyroidism and different cardiac manifestations in patients with sarcoidosis. Results: Three percent of the study respondents self-reported having hyperthyroidism and were generally middle-aged Caucasian women. Compared with patients without hyperthyroidism, patients with hyperthyroidism had more sarcoidosis-related comorbidities (59% vs 43%, P =.001) and more steroid-related comorbidities (56% vs 44%, P =.01), but there was no difference in the sarcoidosis-specific treatments they received, which included corticosteroids. Patients with hyperthyroidism reported sarcoidosis involvement of the heart (26.6% vs 14.9%, P =.005), kidneys (14.9% vs 8%, P =.033) and sinuses (17.7% vs 10.2%, P =.030) more frequently. Cardiac manifestations that were more frequently reported in patients with hyperthyroidism included atrial arrhythmias (11.3% vs 6.3%, P =.046), ventricular arrhythmias (17.2% vs 7.5%, P <.001), congestive heart failure (10.4% vs 5%, P =.017), and heart block (9.4% vs 4.7%, P =.036). Conclusion: Hyperthyroidism is infrequent in patients with sarcoidosis but is potentially associated with different cardiac manifestations. We suggest considering routine screening for hyperthyroidism in patients with sarcoidosis, especially in those with cardiac involvement. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of identifying and treating hyperthyroidism in patients with sarcoidosis.