Hypothyroidism in newborn babies

Hypothyroidism causes irreversible mental retardation, when there is a lack of thyroid hormones, which are necessary for the development of the central nervous system. After birth, thanks to the introduction of the heel test to all newborns, it is possible to diagnose and treat with the necessary sp

Hypothyroidism causes irreversible mental retardation, when there is a lack of thyroid hormones, which are necessary for the development of the central nervous system. After birth, thanks to the introduction of the heel test to all newborns, it is possible to diagnose and treat with the necessary speed most cases of congenital hypothyroidism, although they do not present symptoms.

The lack of these hormones in the last months of pregnancy and in the first days of life can lead to an incorrect development of the baby's brain. For this reason, all pregnant women should undergo regular check-ups to present normal thyroid hormone values, which leads to adequate levels of iodine.

Being born with hypothyroidism

Thyroid hormones are not only necessary for the correct brain development, they are also essential for the functioning of certain organs and systems (metabolism, heart, digestive system, reproductive system), which are affected when you do not have adequate levels.

Currently, hypothyroidism is the most frequent thyroid dysfunction and affects 1-3 percent of newborns. And in addition, it is estimated that 5 percent of children have mild or subclinical hypothyroidism.

Coverage close to 100 percent of Neonatal Screening through the heel test is the main advance in this field, since it makes it possible for all children with this type of hypothyroidism and with the necessary speed to be diagnosed and treated after birth. to avoid future problems in neurological development.

Hypothyroidism in preterm infants

The detection of congenital hypothyroidism through the measurement of TSH in the capillary blood of the newborn obtained in the heel test has given spectacular results in the prevention of the onset of the disease

Specifically, the Detection of hypothyroidism in preterm infants (gestation less than 32 weeks) is very important and sample extraction times must be adjusted so that the value of their result is optimal for the control and monitoring of these children. In addition, in recent years there has been progress in improving the detection of some false negative cases, such as twins or twins, thanks to the repeated heel test at 15 days.

Transient or genetic hypothyroidism

There are two differentiated forms of hypothyroidism:

1. Congenital. In them you can make two distinctions. Some have a genetic origin and need treatment throughout their lives, and others, transient, in which the origin of thyroid dysfunction may be due to the mother, either because of certain thyroid diseases or due to certain treatments. An excess or defect of iodine may be the cause. In these cases, the treatment can be suspended once the correct thyroid function has been recovered. The most affected population are premature children.

2. The acquired ones. Its prevalence increases with age. The symptoms in this type depend on the degree of dysfunction, although the main ones are short stature, obesity, constipation, dry skin and drowsiness. In this group, the clearly pathological hypothyroid tumors usually have an autoimmune origin, not so the subclinical ones that have a genetic origin in 29% of the cases.

Diagnosis of hypothyroidism in babies

The diagnosis of hypothyroidism in childhood makes it possible to prevent future alterations of the thyroid in adulthood. In fact, more and more works of thyroid pathology are being published in adulthood whose origin is in childhood.

The diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism is not technically complicated, since the level of TSH in the whole blood sample is simply determined (heel test performed in Neonatal Screening). The study of thyroid dysfunction by the biochemistry laboratory is also not complex. What does present more complications is to know the cause (the etiology) that causes this dysfunction. In this sense, it would be very useful to know which genes are responsible for many of these thyroid diseases, both for diagnosis and treatment.

Marisol New. Editor of Guiainfantil.com