Who needs thyroid function testing at birth?

摘要

INTRODUCTION There have been notable advances in terms of what biochemistry laboratories can measure, how quickly they can measure and how much sample is required to do the measuring. This has improved many aspects of clinical care but ease of access and rapid feedback may increase the likelihood of babies undergoing blood tests unnecessarily. Checking thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormone concentrations in neo-nates is a good case in point. Many different neonatal (and adult) symptoms and signs can be linked to abnormal levels of thyroid hormone and so it is easy to understand why doctors are keen to check thyroid function. The potential impact of maternal thyroid disease on neonatal thyroid status also needs to be considered. Approximately 10% of adult women have autoimmune thyroid disease and many babies may be considered eligible for thyroid function testing because of this.