Screening for congenital hypothyroidism: results of screening 5600 Ardabil province infants

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is a condition of thyroid hormone deficiency which varies more by geographic areas and affecting 1 in 3000 to 4000 of newborns. The aim of this study was to investigate the screening of CH results in in Ardabil Province, Iran.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This descriptive study was conducted on 158624 neonates during 2007 to 2013 which were screened for CH by measuring serum TSH obtained by heel prick. Of all neonates 5600 neonates who had a TSH ≥5 mU/L were recalled for measurement of serum T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in venous samples. Collected data analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS.16. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism was found to be 1:916 with a female to male ratio of 0.76:1. In 220 patients with CH, 40 patients were diagnosed with permanent CH (18.2%) and 140 with transient hypothyroidism (81.8%). The frequency of transient hypothyroidism was 4.5 times more than permanent hypothyroidism and was significant. In newborns with permanent hypothyroidism the average of TSH levels in the first and second times was 37.15 and 31.56 μIU/ml, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Results showed that the prevalence of CH in Ardabil province was significantly high and comparing the results of this study with other studies in other countries suggests the proper efficacy of congenital hypothyroidism screening in Ardabil's health system. Also we should be attention to other environmental factors especially during pregnancy which affect the performance of the mother’s thyroid. </p>