title: Effect of levo-thyroxine treatment on weight and body mass index in children with acquired hypothyroidism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether normalization of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in children with acquired hypothyroidism is associated with a decrease in weight or body mass index (BMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively identified 68 subjects with acquired hypothyroidism who were seen at least once in our center in follow-up between 1995 and 2006.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment with levo-thyroxine decreased the mean TSH level from 147 microU/mL initially to 5.0 microU/mL at the second visit 4.4 months later. This was not associated with a significant change in weight or BMI. Of the 68 subjects, 31% lost weight by the second visit (mean 2.3 kg). The mean initial TSH level of this group was 349 microU/mL. Thirty of the 68 children had at least 2 years of follow-up, and 19/68 had at least 4 years of follow-up. Over those intervals, weight and BMI percentiles and z scores did not change significantly from baseline values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most children treated for acquired hypothyroidism exhibited little short-term or long-term change in weight or BMI despite near-normalization of TSH. Those children who lost weight tended to have severe hypothyroidism and to have only a small weight loss. Consequently, practitioners should not expect significant decreases in weight after treatment in most children with hypothyroidism.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. jplome2@email.uky.edu
authors.forename: Jefferson P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lomenick
authors.forename: Maysa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Sayyid
authors.forename: W Jackson
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D013972:Thyrotropin; D013974:Thyroxine