title: Do children with congenital hypothyroidism exhibit abnormal cortical morphology?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Given thyroid hormone (TH)'s essential role in multiple aspects of early brain development, children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) detected and treated early may still display subtle cognitive and behavioral impairments as well as brain abnormalities. However, effects on their cortical development are not yet known. We used an automated neuroimaging technique to determine if these children differ in cortical thickness (CT) from typically developing controls (TDC) and if the regions showing CT differences reflect severity of initial hypothyroidism and predict later neuropsychological functioning.
  
  
  METHODS
  FreeSurfer Image Analysis Suite was used on archived MRI scans from 41 CH and 42 TDC children aged 9-16 y. Vertex-based procedures were used to compare groups and perform correlations between CT and indices of disease severity and neuropsychological outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CH group showed multiple regions of cortical thinning or cortical thickening within right and left hemispheres relative to TDC. CT values were significantly correlated with early T4 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and current neuropsychological test indices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The developing cortex is sensitive to early TH loss in CH. Different patterns of cortical thinning or cortical thickening among brain regions may reflect timing of TH deficiency relative to timing of cortical development.
authors.affiliation: Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Hayyah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Clairman
authors.affiliation: Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jovanka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skocic
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC.
authors.forename: Julieta E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lischinsky
authors.affiliation: 1] Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [2] Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rovet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001519:Behavior; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000276:immunology; D003409:Congenital Hypothyroidism / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000378:metabolism; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D013972:Thyrotropin; D013974:Thyroxine