Ultrasound Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Ultrasound, including details on screening, diagnosis, pregnancy, detection.

Ultrasound appearance of thyroid tissue in hypothyroid infants.

Ogawa E, Kojima-Ishii K, Fujiwara I

Department of Pediatrics, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. eogawaster@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: To identify those infants who need a higher starting dose of levothyroxine (l-T4) for early normalization of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level. STUDY DESIGN: TSH levels at 2 time points (1 to 3 weeks and 3 to 5 weeks) after l-T4 therapy at a starting dose of 8 to 12 microg/kg/day were evaluated retrospectively in 22 hypothyroid infants screened for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in terms of etiology as determined by ultrasonography (US), the size of distal femoral epiphysis (DFE), and initial thyroid function. RESULTS: The infants with a noneutopic thyroid or small DFE exhibited significantly higher posttherapeutic TSH levels compared with the other infants. Eight of the 9 infants who failed to achieve normalized TSH values at 1 to 3 weeks had noneutopic thyroid. All of the infants with eutopic thyroid exhibited normalized TSH at 3 to 5 weeks, and a significantly greater proportion of the infants with eutopic thyroid exhibited normalized TSH at 1 to 3 weeks compared with those with noneutopic thyroid. Stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that US etiology was a significant independent variable for normalization of TSH at 1 to 3 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: US examination to identify eutopic or noneutopic thyroid provides useful information for determining the starting dose of l-T4 in hypothyroid infants.

Published 23 June 2008 in J Pediatr, 153(1): 101-4.
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