ABSTRACT
Congenital hypothyroidism is a condition where a newborn has decreased or absent thyroid function and thyroid hormone production. It is the most common cause of preventable mental retardation and its early diagnosis can only be achieved through systematic neonatal screening because its clinical manifestations are usually late. The etiologic study of this condition relies heavily on nuclear medicine and ultrasound, describing various findings. This research analyzed the characteristics of the ultrasound patterns observed in these children and their correlation with the most common etiologies. The use of ultrasound allows selecting children that require scintigraphic studies, decreasing the use of radiation in neonates.
El hipotiroidismo congénito se define como la condición de déficit de la producción de hormonas tiroideas, que se encuentra presente desde el nacimiento. Corresponde a la causa más común de retardo mental prevenible y su diagnóstico precoz sólo se logra a través de la pesquisa sistemática neonatal, debido a que las manifestaciones clínicas son habitualmente tardías. El estudio etiológico específico se apoya fundamentalmente en la medicina nuclear y el ultrasonido, describiéndose hallazgos variados. Revisamos las características de los patrones ultrasonográficos observados en estos niños y su correlación con las etiologías más frecuentes. El uso de ultrasonografía permite seleccionar los niños que requieren estudio cintigráfico, disminuyendo el uso de radiación en neonatos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Child , Thyroid Gland/pathology , Thyroid Gland , Congenital Hypothyroidism , Early Diagnosis , Congenital Hypothyroidism/classification , Mass ScreeningABSTRACT
Sikkim is a small state in the eastern Himalayas. A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders in the state. A two stage sampling procedure was adopted. In stage one, all villages in the state were listed and 249 were randomly selected for the survey. In stage two, households, were randomly selected from the selected villages using the electoral lists. The basic sampling unit was a household and all members of the households were studied. A total of 17,837 subjects were studied from 3,197 households of 249 villages. Overall prevalence of goitre and cretinism in the community as a whole, were 54.03% and 3.46% respectively. Of the population studied, 5939 were children in the age group of 5 to 16 years. There were 3,005 boys and 2,934 girls. Goitre was detected in 3,381 (56.9%). Goitre prevalence in the boys was 55.4% and in girls it was 58.5% (p = < 0.05). Grade I goitre was seen in 2,472 (73.1%), grade II in 888 (26.3%) and grade III in 21 (0.6%). Endemic cretinism was diagnosed in 175 subjects (2.9%). Cretinism prevalence in the boys was 3.1%, and in girls in was 2.8% and this difference was not significant. Neurological; cretinism was the predominant form (98.3%). Estimation of urinary iodine concentration in 167 subjects revealed the mean concentration to be 3.64 u/dl (SD 2.47). The median value was ug/dl indicating the skewed distribution of the urinary iodine concentration. The study shows the existence of severe iodine deficiency in the school-aged children of Sikkim.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)