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      Therapeutic Approach of Fetal Thyroid Disorders

      case-report

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          Abstract

          Recent advances in fetal imaging techniques and fetal hormonology allow the identification in the fetus of thyroid function disorders that can potentially be treated in utero by giving drugs to the mother. In women with Graves’ disease (when fetal hyperthyroidism is present), it can generally be treated in a noninvasive way by optimizing treatment of the mother. For goitrous nonimmune fetal hypothyroidism leading to hydramnios, intra-amniotic injections of thyroxine have been reported to decrease the size of the fetal thyroid. Experience with such a procedure is limited and the risk of provoking premature labor or infections should be carefully evaluated. Thus, follow-up of the efficacy and the possible long-term undesired consequences of medical interventions administered to the fetus are of great importance. Such interventions should only be performed by specialized teams with extensive experience in perinatal care.

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          Most cited references25

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          Low maternal free thyroxine concentrations during early pregnancy are associated with impaired psychomotor development in infancy.

          Maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy is an important determinant of early fetal brain development because the fetal thyroid is unable to produce any T4 before 12-14 weeks' gestation. Overt maternal hypothyroidism as seen in severe iodine-deficient areas is associated with severely impaired neurological development of the offspring. At present, it is not known whether low free T4 (fT4) levels during pregnancy in healthy women from iodine sufficient areas may affect fetal neurodevelopment. Neurodevelopment was assessed at 10 months of age in a cohort of 220 healthy children, born after uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Maternal TSH, fT4 and TPO antibody status were assessed at 12 and 32 weeks' gestation. Maternal gestational fT4 concentration was defined as an independent parameter for child development. Children of women with fT4 levels below the 5th (< 9.8 pmol/l, n = 11) and 10th (< 10.4 pmol/l, n = 22) percentiles at 12 weeks' gestation had significantly lower scores on the Bayley Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) scale at 10 months of age, compared to children of mothers with higher fT4 values (t test, mean difference: 14.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.9-22 and 7.4, 95% CI: 1.1-13.9, respectively). At 32 weeks' gestation, no significant differences were found. In the group of women with the lowest 10th percentile fT4 concentrations at 12 weeks' gestation, a positive correlation was found between the mothers' fT4 concentration and children's PDI scores (linear regression, R: 0.46, P = 0.03). After correction for confounding variables, a fT4 concentration below the 10th percentile at 12 weeks' gestation was a significant risk factor for impaired psychomotor development (RR): 5.8, 95% CI: 1.3-12.6). Low maternal plasma fT4 concentrations during early pregnancy may be an important risk factor for impaired infant development.
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            Timing and magnitude of increases in levothyroxine requirements during pregnancy in women with hypothyroidism.

            Hypothyroidism during pregnancy has been associated with impaired cognitive development and increased fetal mortality. During pregnancy, maternal thyroid hormone requirements increase. Although it is known that women with hypothyroidism should increase their levothyroxine dose during pregnancy, biochemical hypothyroidism occurs in many. In this prospective study we attempted to identify precisely the timing and amount of levothyroxine adjustment required during pregnancy. Women with hypothyroidism who were planning pregnancy were observed prospectively before and throughout their pregnancies. Thyroid function, human chorionic gonadotropin, and estradiol were measured before conception, approximately every two weeks during the first trimester, and monthly thereafter. The dose of levothyroxine was increased to maintain the thyrotropin concentration at preconception values throughout pregnancy. Twenty pregnancies occurred in 19 women and resulted in 17 full-term births. An increase in the levothyroxine dose was necessary during 17 pregnancies. The mean levothyroxine requirement increased 47 percent during the first half of pregnancy (median onset of increase, eight weeks of gestation) and plateaued by week 16. This increased dose was required until delivery. Levothyroxine requirements increase as early as the fifth week of gestation. Given the importance of maternal euthyroidism for normal fetal cognitive development, we propose that women with hypothyroidism increase their levothyroxine dose by approximately 30 percent as soon as pregnancy is confirmed. Thereafter, serum thyrotropin levels should be monitored and the levothyroxine dose adjusted accordingly. Copyright 2004 Massachusetts Medical Society
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              Timing of vulnerability of the brain to iodine deficiency in endemic cretinism.

              Endemic cretinism, caused by severe iodine deficiency during pregnancy, is the world's most common preventable cause of mental retardation. It can be prevented by iodine treatment before conception, but whether it can be prevented or ameliorated by treatment during pregnancy or after delivery is not known. In a severely iodine-deficient area of the Xinjiang region of China, we systematically administered iodine to groups of children from birth to three years of age (n = 689) and women at each trimester of pregnancy (n = 295); we then followed the treated children and the babies born to the treated women for two years. We used three independent measures of neural development: the results of the neurologic examination, the head circumference (which correlates with brain weight in the first postnatal year), and indexes of cognitive and motor development. Untreated children one to three years of age, who were studied when first seen, served as control subjects. The prevalence of moderate or severe neurologic abnormalities among the 120 infants whose mothers received iodine in the first or second trimester was 2 percent, as compared with 9 percent among the 752 infants who received iodine during the third trimester (through the treatment of their mothers) or after birth (P = 0.008). The prevalence of microcephaly (defined as a head circumference more than 3 SD below U.S. norms) decreased from 27 percent in the untreated children to 11 percent in the treated children (P = 0.006), and the mean (+/- SD) developmental quotient at two years of age increased (90 +/- 14, vs. 75 +/- 18 in the untreated children; P < 0.001). Treatment in the third trimester of pregnancy or after delivery did not improve neurologic status, but head growth and developmental quotients improved slightly. Treatment during the first trimester, which was technically problematic, improved the neurologic outcome. Up to the end of the second trimester, iodine treatment protects the fetal brain from the effects of iodine deficiency. Treatment later in pregnancy or after delivery may improve brain growth and developmental achievement slightly, but it does not improve neurologic status.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                HRP
                Horm Res Paediatr
                10.1159/issn.1663-2818
                Hormone Research in Paediatrics
                S. Karger AG
                1663-2818
                1663-2826
                2010
                July 2010
                07 May 2010
                : 74
                : 1
                : 1-5
                Affiliations
                aUniversité Paris Descartes, Pediatric Endocrinology, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, AP-HP, INSERM U845, Paris, France; bDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Qué., Canada
                Author notes
                *Michel Polak, MD, PhD, Pediatric Endocrinology, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, 149, rue de Sèvres, FR–75015 Paris (France), Tel. +33 1 44 49 48 03, Fax +33 1 44 38 16 48, E-Mail michel.polak@nck.aphp.fr
                Article
                297595 Horm Res Paediatr 2010;74:1–5
                10.1159/000297595
                20453471
                008baea6-3907-42a2-92a7-cf865e5efb9e
                © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel

                Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug. Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.

                History
                : 17 September 2009
                : 03 August 2010
                Page count
                Tables: 2, References: 34, Pages: 5
                Categories
                Mini Review

                Endocrinology & Diabetes,Neurology,Nutrition & Dietetics,Sexual medicine,Internal medicine,Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical medicine
                Hypothyroidism,Graves’ disease,Fetal goiter

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