Table 4: Summary of the principal characteristics of the main studies exploring the effects of the treatment with L-thyroxin on the bone mineral density (BMD).

Authors Thyroid disease Number of patients Type of treatment Length of treatment (years) Menopausal status Effect on BMD Affinito et al., 1996 [12] Hypothyroidism 54 Suppressive Various After Decreased Baldini et al., 2002 [13] Nontoxic goiter 43 Suppressive ≥2 Before and after Unchanged Chen et al., 2004 [14] Cancer (thyroidectomy) 69 Suppressive 44 before 25 after Decreased Nodular goiter 32 None NA None Foldes et al., 1993 [15] Subclinical hyperthyroidism 37 None NA Before and after None Toxic adenoma 22 None NA Decreased in postmenopausal Gorres et al., 1996 [16] Cancer (thyroidectomy) 65 Suppressive 15 before 32 after 18 men Unchanged Hadji et al., 2000 [17] Nontoxic goiter and hypothyroidism 156 Substitutive >5 Before and after Slightly decreased Heijckmann et al., 2005 [18] Cancer 59 Suppressive >6 Unchanged Kung and Yeung, 1996 [19] Cancer (thyroidectomy) 46 Suppressive 2 After Decreased Larijani et al., 2004 [20] Thyroid nodules 41 Substitutive >1 Before Unchanged Mikosch et al., 2001 [21] Cancer 98 Suppressive Unchanged Nuzzo et al., 1998 [22] Nontoxic goiter 40 Suppressive 1.5–14 Before Unchanged Sijanovic and Karner, 2001 [23] Cancer (thyroidectomy) 19 Suppressive 9 Before Decreased Toivonen et al., 1998 [24] Cancer (thyroidectomy) 29 Suppressive 9–11 25 women 4 men Decreased

NA: not applicable.