ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to determine the presence of thyroid autoantibodies and associated pregnancy complications from 49 pregnant women with thyroid disease. There were 31 (63%) women with Graves' disease (GD) and 18 (37%) with primary hypothyroidism (PHT). A total of 26 (53.1%) women, 19 (61%) with GD and seven (39%) with PHT, had positive antibodies. Six had thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO), one with thyroglobulin antibody (TG) and eight had TSH receptor antibodies (TR). Two had a mixture of antibodies involving TG/TPO (one GD vs one PHT), four with TG/TPO/TR (all had GD) and five with TPO/TR (four with GD vs one with PHT). There were associations in women with positive thyroid antibodies and pre-eclampsia (15.4%), abruptio placenta (4%), caesarean deliveries (31%), postpartum thyroiditis (19.2%) and abnormal neonatal thyroid function (15.4%). Women with positive thyroid antibodies in pregnancy need close care during and after pregnancy, as they can develop complications affecting both mother and fetus.
