Frequency of Congenital Hypothyroidism (CH) in Neonates of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To determine the frequency of congenital hypothyroidism among healthy newborns presenting to a public health facility in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out for six months duration at the Well Baby Clinic, Paediatric unit III, Civil hospital Karachi. Neonates of both sex delivered after 37 weeks of gestation, at Civil Hospital Karachi and visited the well baby clinic, after 48 hours of birth to <4 weeks of age for follow up were included in the study. A 3 cc venous blood sample taken for serum Thyroid Stimulating Harmone (TSH) level. Data analysis was done using SPSS statistics version 16. Results: A total of 215 healthy newborns were included, 112 were male and 103 female patients. Congenital hypothyroidism was considered according to the TSH value. The results showed that 35