Thyroid-stimulating hormone and clinical outcomes: the CORONA trial (controlled rosuvastatin multinational study in heart failure)

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to examine the association between thyroid status and clinical outcomes in patients in the CORONA (Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Trial in Heart Failure) study.

Background: Hypo- and hyperthyroidism were associated with worse clinical outcomes in the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial).

Methods: In CORONA, 4,987 patients underwent baseline thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) measurement, 237 of which (4.8%) were receiving thyroid replacement therapy (TRT). Patients were classified as euthyroid (TSH: 0.3 to 5.0 μU/ml, and no TRT), hyperthyroid (<0.3 μU/ml and no TRT), or hypothyroid (>5.0 μU/ml and no TRT). The outcome composites of cardiovascular (CV) death or hospitalization for heart failure (HF), the components of this composite, and all-cause death were compared among hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, and euthyroid states, using multivariable models adjusting for previously reported prognostic variables.

Results: A total of 91.3% of patients were euthyroid, 5.0% were hypothyroid, and 3.7% were hyperthyroid. Compared with euthyroid patients, hypothyroid patients were more likely to have a history of stroke, had worse renal function and higher N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, were more likely to be treated with an antiarrhythmic drug (or have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator), and were less likely to smoke or be treated with a beta-blocker or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker. In univariate analyses, hypothyroidism was associated with an increased risk of the composite outcome of CV death or HF hospitalization (hazard ratio: 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.07 to 1.57; p = 0.008), as well as all-cause death (HR: 1.36; 95% confidence interval: 1.03 to 1.76; p = 0.004). However, after adjustment for other known predictors of outcome, the associations were weakened, and when NT-proBNP was added to the models, the association between hypothyroidism and all outcomes was eliminated.

Conclusions: Thyroid status is not an independent predictor of outcome in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. (Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Study in Heart Failure [CORONA]; NCT00206310).

Keywords: clinical outcome; hyperthyroidism; hypothyroidism.