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Thyroid function in healthy and unhealthy preterm newborns
Korkmaz, Gökten; Özçetin, Mustafa; Çağ, Yakup; Yükselmiş, Ufuk; Öngel, Volkan & Işık, Olcay
Abstract
Background: The thyroid gland and hormonal regulation are among the most important systems to be investigated in pre-term
infants. This study sought to investigate thyroid hormone levels of healthy and unhealthy pre-term infants.
Methods: The prospective study included 53 consecutive premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit within
a duration of one year. Of these preterm babies, 20 were healthy, while 33 had problems such as asphyxia or RDS. Venous
blood samples were collected at baseline 0-24 hours, 7 and 14 days and FT3, FT4, and TSH levels were determined. Other data
recorded included demographic characteristics of the patients and clinical variables.
Results: The most frequent health problems were RDS (87.9%), sepsis (30.3%), and retinopathy of prematurity (24.2%). The
mean TSH levels showed a consistent decline at three consequent measurements in both groups, which were always significantly
lower in unhealthy pre-terms. In both groups, TSH levels showed significant decreases on Day 7 and Day 14 compared to the
baseline levels (p<005). The levels of FT3 and FT4 consistently showed significant correlations with gestational week and birth
weight at each of the three measurements.
Conclusion: Pre-term infants, especially those having problems, have significant hypothyroxinemia that may require thyroid
hormone replacement therapy.
Keywords
Prematurity; hypothyroxinemia; thyroid; TSH.
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