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- Title
Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism: The Significance of Threshold Limit in False-Negative Results.
- Authors
Mengreli, Chryssanthi; Kanaka-Gantenbein, Christina; Girginoudis, Panagiotis; Magiakou, Maria-Alexandra; Christakopoulou, Ioulia; Giannoulia-Karantana, Aglaia; Chrousos, George P.; Dacou-Voutetakis, Catherine
- Abstract
Context: In our neonatal program, a number of infants with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) had escaped diagnosis, when a spot RIA-TSH value of 20 mU/liter whole blood was used as a cutoff point. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out prospectively the additional number of newborns with CH if the TSH cutoff point is lowered to 10 mU/liter. Population and Methods: The study included 311,390 screened newborns. The children with CH were followed up for a period of 3 yr. Results: Twenty-eight percent of infants diagnosed with CH had neonatal TSH values between 10 and 20 mU/liter (56 of 200). Forty of 47 infants, who were reevaluated later on (85.1%), suffered permanent CH. A thyroid scintiscan and/or echogram revealed that eight of 40 children (20.0%) had a structural defect, and the remaining (32 of 40) had a functional defect of the thyroid gland without anatomical abnormality; 14 of 32 cases were familial. Eighteen of the 47 reevaluated infants were prematurely born (38.3%) and 15 of these 18 had permanent CH (83.3%). The low- ering of TSH cutoff point from 20 to 10 mU/liter resulted in a 10-fold increase of recall rate. Conclusions: A significant number of cases with permanent CH are missed when a TSH threshold of 20 mU/liter is applied. Almost 40% of the missed CH cases were premature. A mild increase of TSH at screening is not a predictor of transient CH. The increase in recall rate constitutes a serious drawback and should be balanced against the possible consequences of thyroid dysfunction at this important developmental stage.
- Publication
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2010, Vol 95, Issue 9, p4283
- ISSN
0021-972X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1210/jc.2010-0057