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SCREENING FOR CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM
Author(s) -
LARSSON AGNE,
LJUNGGREN JANGUSTAF,
EKMAN KARIN,
NILSSON ANDERS,
OLIN PATRICK
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1981.tb05532.x
Subject(s) - medicine , congenital hypothyroidism , pediatrics , dried blood , thyroid , chemistry , chromatography
. Larsson, A., Ljunggren, J. G., Ekman, K., Nilsson, A. and Olin, P. (Departments of Paediatrics and Child Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, St. Goran's Children's Hospital; the Department of Medicine, St. Göran's Hospital; and the PKU Section of the Department of Bacteriology, National Bacteriological Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden). Screening for congenital hypothyroidism. I. Laboratory results of a pilot study based on dried blood samples collected for PKU screening. Acta Paediatr Scand, 70:141, 1981. – A pilot study was performed to establish optimal conditions for nation‐wide screening for congenital hypothyroidism in Sweden. The levels of T 4 and TSH were determined by automated radioimmunoassay in the dried blood spots, routinely collected for PKU screening on the fifth postnatal day, from all 1979, 2 infants born in the Stockholm area during a 14‐month period. To identify safe minimum recall criteria for routine use, infants were recalled if the TSH level was more than 30 mU/l of plasma or–if they were not preterm–the T 4 concentration was less than ‐2 S.D. of the mean. Altogether 160 infants were recalled. Seven newborns with congenital hypothyroidism were identified, 6 with primary and one with secondary hypothyroidism. Five infants had decreased levels of thyroxine‐binding globulin. The results of the follow‐up analyses from recalled infants showed that determination of the reverse‐T 3 level may be of diagnostic value around the 23rd day of life. The results of the clinical investigation of recalled infants are reported in a subsequent paper and a programme for nation‐wide screening for congenital hypothyroidism is proposed.