BACKGROUND Thyroid hormone plays a critical role in fetal development. In pregnancy, increased thyroid hormone synthesis is required to meet fetal needs, resulting in increased iodine requirements. OBJECTIVE This article outlines changes to thyroid physiology and iodine requirements in pregnancy, pregnancy specific reference ranges for thyroid function tests and detection and management of th...

Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide but in areas of Iodine sufficiency, other causes including autoimmunity and iatrogenic factors are more common. During pregnancy, autoimmune thyroid disease, characterized by presence of specific thyroid auto antibodies, is mostly responsible for hypothyroidism. Such females, who often had previous history of repeated aborti...

To study the protective effects of maternal thyroxine (T4) and 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) in congenital hypothyroidism, we gave pregnant rats methimazole (MMI), an antithyroid drug that crosses the placenta, and infused them with three different doses of T4 or T3. The concentrations of both T4 and T3 were determined in maternal and fetal plasma and tissues (obtained near term) by specific RIA...

OBJECTIVE Adverse maternal outcomes and perinatal complications are closely associated with overt maternal hypothyroidism, but whether these complications occur in women with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) during pregnancy remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of SCH on maternal and perinatal outcomes during pregnancy. METHODS A prospective study of data f...

In adults, hypothyroidism caused by thyroid stimulation blocking antibody (TSB Ab) is rare, and confirmed cases are even fewer, as TSB Ab levels are rarely assayed. However, this may create problems in babies, as the transplacental passage of maternal TSB Ab can cause a rare type of hypothyroidism in the infant. Prompt levothyroxine replacement for the baby starting immediately after birth is i...

OBJECTIVE To review the screening program for congenital hypothyroidism in the Riyadh Al-Kharj Hospital Programme, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to investigate the clinical and biochemical characteristics of affected infants. METHODS The study was carried out from 1985 to 2000 in the Clinical Chemistry Division, Department of Pathology, Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Ar...