The increased incidence of congenital hypothyroidism: fact or fancy?
Authors
Mitchell, Marvin L.Hsu, Ho-Wen
Sahai, Inderneel
Brink, Stuart J.
Brown, Rosalind S.
Cohen, Laurie E.
Eaton, Roger B.
Lee, Mary M.
Levitsky, Lynne L.
Reiter, Edward
Sadeghi-Nejad, Abdollah
Soyka, Leslie A.
Wolfsdorf, Joseph I.
Therrell, Bradford L.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of PediatricsDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2011-05-27Keywords
ChildCohort Studies
Congenital Hypothyroidism
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Massachusetts
Neonatal Screening
Severity of Illness Index
Up-Regulation
Cell Biology
Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities
Developmental Biology
Endocrine System Diseases
Endocrinology
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Pediatrics
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) detected by newborn screening in the US has increased significantly since the early 1990s. We defined the characteristics associated with the increased incidence. PATIENTS: A cohort of children with CH born during an earlier period of low incidence (1991-94) was compared with a cohort born during a later period when the incidence of CH had doubled (2001-04). MEASUREMENTS: Screening was performed with T4 as the primary marker and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) on selected specimens. Follow-up on hypothyroid children determined whether they had permanent or transient hypothyroidism. Cases were classified based on laboratory results: initial TSH >/=100 mU/l was 'severe,' initial TSH /l but >/=20 mU/l was 'mild' and initial TSH /l with subsequent abnormal TSH was 'delayed'. RESULTS: The overall incidence of CH almost doubled between the two time periods, from 1:3010 to 1:1660. Excess cases were found in the mild and delayed categories, with no increase in severe cases. The proportion of transient cases was CONCLUSION: The rising incidence of CH in Massachusetts is confined to mild and delayed cases. Our findings suggest that this rise is attributable to enhanced detection rather than an absolute increase in numbers.Source
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2011 Dec;75(6):806-10. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04128.x. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04128.xPermanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/36067PubMed ID
21623857Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04128.x