SUN-415 Is ‘’Visceral Adiposity Index’’ a Better Indicator of Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Thyroid Nodules?
Authors: Durcan Emre , Sahin Serdar , Korkmaz Ozge Polat , Dedeoglu Selin Ece , Ozkaya Hande Mefkure , Gonen Mustafa Sait 
Published: May 2020

The Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) is a mathematical index, based on waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), triglycerides (TG) and HDL cholesterol (HDL) levels, indirectly expressing visceral adipose function, insulin sensitivity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between VAI and other metabolic syndrome parameters and thyroid nodules.

The prospective and single center study included 58 patients with thyroid nodule admitted to the our clinic. As control group; 57 healthy volunteers with similar age, sex and body mass index were included. Nine nodules were detected in 9 healthy volunteers and they were transferred to the patient group. Biochemical parameters were obtained from medical charts. Anthropometric measurements and body composition analysis were performed by the same physician to calculate VAI and other parameters. The parenchymal structure was evaluated according to VESINC system on thyroid ultrasound by single person and nodule characteristics were also detected. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to NCEP Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) consensus report.

We examined a total of 67 patients (mean age 48.51 ± 11.55; M/F: 6/61) and 48 healthy volunteers (mean age 47.19 ± 9.45, M/F: 5/43). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender and age (p&gt;0.05 for all).

VAI was significantly higher in the patient group than the control group (p &lt;0.05, median VAI value 4.07 (IQR: 2.27-5.91); 2.97 (IQR: 2.03-4.29), respectively). According to the NCEP ATP III, the number of people with metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the patient group than the control group (p =0.004). There was no significant difference between waist circumference, body fat percentage, visceral fat rating, BMI, waist-hip ratio and waist-height ratio between patient and control groups (p&gt; 0.05 for all).

VAI values were similar in patients according to size, shape, structure, echogenicity, limits, vascularity and presence of calcification of nodules (p&gt;0.05 for all). In all of participants, according to VESINC sonographic scoring system, VAI score was significantly higher in person with heterogeneous thyroid parenchyma than homogeneous (p=0.03). And, those with parenchymal infiltration had significantly higher VAI than those without (p=0.001). However, VAI was similar in terms of parenchymal echogenicity and presence of cyst (p&gt;0.05 for all).

There was no significant correlation between VAI and TSH, Ft3, fT4, anti-TPO, anti-TG, total thyroid volume and number of nodule (p&gt; 0.05).

In our study, we demonstrated that metabolic syndrome is more common in patients with thyroid nodules. While VAI values were significantly different between the two groups, we found no significant difference in terms of other metabolic syndrome parameters. Therefore, VAI may be a better indicator of metabolic syndrome in patients with thyroid nodules.