Mild iodine deficiency during fetal/neonatal life and neuropsychological impairment in Tuscany.
The neuropsychological performance of schoolchildren living in areas with present and past iodine deficiency in Tuscany was investigated. Children were submitted to: a) block design subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and a modified version of the WISC-R coding subtest which evaluate the general neuropsychological and cognitive performance, independently from familial cultural background; b) simple reaction time (RT) session which evaluates the efficiency of the whole information processing and nervous transmission mechanisms. Neuropsychological performance was tested in 107 children living in Borgo a Mozzano, an area of mild iodine deficiency (IDA) with a median urinary iodine excretion (UIE) of 64 micrograms/L (mean +/- SD: 80.1 +/- 57). One hundred and six sex and age-matched children living in Marina di Pisa, an iodine sufficient coastal village of Tuscany (ISA) with a median UIE of 142 micrograms/L (mean +/- SD: 173 +/- 95) were used as controls. Tests for neuropsychological performance were performed in 57 children living in the village of Vagli, an area with past iodine deficiency (PIDA): 30 children born before iodine prophylaxis (Group 1), when the median UIE was 32 micrograms/L (mean +/- SD: 47 +/- 22), 27 children born after the institution of iodine prophylaxis (Group 2), when the median UIE was 109 micrograms/L (mean +/- SD: 130 +/- 73). Sex and age-matched ISA-children were used as controls for each group. RTs were significantly delayed (p < 0.05) in IDA than in ISA children, while block design and coding subtests showed no significant difference.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Aghini Lombardi
F A
FA
Istituto di Endocrinologia, University of Pisa, Italy.
Pinchera
A
A
Antonangeli
L
L
Rago
T
T
Chiovato
L
L
Bargagna
S
S
Bertucelli
B
B
Ferretti
G
G
Sbrana
B
B
Marcheschi
M
M
D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007455:Iodine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000652:urine; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011930:Reaction Time
D007455:Iodine