Maternal autoimmune thyroiditis and congenital malformations of newborns in a cohort of Slovak women.
BACKGROUND
Aim of this study was to compare the thyroidal status of mothers to children with and without congenital malformations (CM).


METHODS
We examined 129 mothers of newborns with CM and 228 mothers without CM. The assessment included particular history, physical examination, thyroid ultrasonography, fT4, TSH, and anti-TPO measurement of mothers and comparison to birth proportions of newborns.


RESULTS
The total volume of the thyroid gland and anti-TPO levels were significantly higher in mothers of the group with CM (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). The birth weight and length were significantly lower in the group with congenital malformation when compared to controls (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results of our study, we suggest that thyroid diseases of a mother might participate in congenital malformations of their newborn, although no direct association between thyroid autoantibodies and congenital malformations has been described as of yet.
Vargová
Viola
V
Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic.
Pytliak
Marek
M
Mechírová
Viola
V
Felšöci
Marek
M
D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018154:Slovakia; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
D001323:Autoantibodies; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase