title: Bone metabolism in children with congenital hypothyroidism--a longitudinal study.
abstract: In order to evaluate the effect of thyroid replacement therapy on bone metabolism in congenital hypothyroid children, we studied 23 (10 girls and 13 boys) consecutive patients. Their age ranged from 3 to 8 weeks. One of these patients had familiar dyshormonogenesis, 21 had ectopic glands and one hemiagenesis. As a control group, we studied 46 sex- and age-matched healthy newborns. Before the beginning of therapy, the hypothyroid patients showed higher values of calcium (2.78 +/- 0.04 vs 2.65 +/- 0.07 mmol/l; p < 0.05) and of 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D (159.7 +/- 31.6 vs 90.5 +/- 33.1 ng/l; p < 0.01), while they showed lower values of osteocalcin (1.9 +/- 0.8 vs 2.9 +/- 0.9 ng/ml; p < 0.01) than controls. After 3 months of therapy, we found a complete normalization of all these parameters and a progressive increase of osteocalcin. Our data show that in congenital hypothyroid children there are abnormalities in calcium metabolism which seem to be transient and reversible after L-thyroxine replacement therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verrotti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Altobelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morgese
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarelli
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D003409:Congenital Hypothyroidism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015675:Osteocalcin / Q000097:blood; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D015675:Osteocalcin; D014807:Vitamin D; D010758:Phosphorus; C097949:1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D; D013974:Thyroxine