This Month in Genetics

摘要

Because maternal hypothyroidism has been associated with reduced cognitive abilities in children, it makes sense that many obstetricians screen pregnant women for thyroid function. On the other hand, there is a lack of good evidence from randomized controlled trials that population-based screening and subsequent management to improve thyroid function has an effect. A large randomized screening trial recently published by Lazarus et al. aimed to settle this issue, but it didn't quite succeed. Although the study did not find evidence to support population screening for maternal hypothyroidism, it also didn't rule out its potential utility. In this study, they compared the intelligence quotients (IQs) of 3-year-old children born to women who were screened and treated for hypothyroidism to those of children whose mothers were not screened; they could not find a significant difference between the two groups.