Statins might Cause High Elevations of CK in Patients with Unnoticed Hypothyroidism

Sharon Hope · medicine forum Guru Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 752

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16723812&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

Endocr J. 2006 May 25; [Epub ahead of print]

HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (statins) might Cause High Elevations of
Creatine Phosphokinase (CK) in Patients with Unnoticed Hypothyroidism.

Tokinaga K, Oeda T, Suzuki Y, Matsusima Y.

Department of Internal Medicine, Matsudo City Hospital.

Serious side effects of statins, including severe myopathy and
rhabdomyolysis, are rare but important in general practice. Hypothyroidism
can cause secondary hypercholesterolemia and myopathy. There have been few
reports on the risk of statins in patient with unnoticed hypothyroidism. We
analyzed the characteristics of 77 patients with primary hypothyroidism in
our hospital. Nine patients (11%) accidentally received statins in the
treatment of hypercholesterolemia without diagnosis of hypothyroidism. In
such patients, free T(4)(FT(4)) levels were lower, and those of LDH, CK were
higher than those in patients not receiving statins. In patients
accidentally receiving statins, an inverse correlation between CK and FT(4)
could not be shown (which was recognized in patients not receiving them).
Even after FT(4) levels were matched, levels of CK were still higher in the
patients accidentally receiving statins. Patients with high CK levels over
1000 U/L were 5 times more frequent (56%) in patients accidentally receiving
statins than in those not receiving statins (11%). The present study
confirms that statins enhances levels of CK in patients with hypothyroidism.
We must not begin and continue to use these drugs without checking the
possibility of hypothyroidism.

PMID: 16723812 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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