Thyroid Disease and the Cardiovascular System

Thyroid hormones, specifically triiodothyronine (T-3), have significant effects on the heart and cardiovascular system. Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, subclinical thyroid disease, and low T-3 syndrome each cause cardiac and cardiovascular abnormalities through both genomic and non-genomic effects on cardiac myocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. In compromised health, such as occurs in heart disease, alterations in thyroid hormone metabolism may further impair cardiac and cardiovascular function. Diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease may benefit from including analysis of thyroid hormone status, including serum total T-3 levels.