Authors
AG Unnikrishnan, Department of Endocrinology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin.
Abstract
In a prospective study of euthyroid pregnant women, subjects with anti-TPO positivity were either treated with LT4 (n=57) or not treated (n=58). The authors reported that LT4 therapy in euthyroid TPO+ve pregnancies could improve miscarriage rate by 75% and premature deliveries by 69%.27 Antibody positive subjects had a higher TSH at baseline (though within the euthyroid range) as compared with antibody negative group. The results of this study suggest that subjects with the autoimmune thyroid disease may have a subtle deficiency of thyroid hormones due to impaired adaptability, and also implies that the judicious use of levothyroxine, at least in subjects with a high-normal TSH, could improve outcomes.
The authors carried out thyroid function in a selected group of neonates born to these mothers, and from the results conclude that such thyroid autoimmunity alone does not “necessarily” imply neonatal thyroid dysfunction. This is indeed an excellent effort at generating valuable data on this intriguing illness.
Keywords: Maternal hypothyroidism, Autoimmune, Antibodies, Postpartum thyroiditis