A new study showed that propylthiouracil and methimazole use during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of congenital malformations. Intriguingly, the authors identified dose-dependent effects for methimazole but not propylthiouracil, whereas the recommended switch from methimazole to propylthiouracil during early pregnancy did not reduce the risk of congenital malformations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Alexander, E. K. et al. 2017 guidelines of the American thyroid association for the diagnosis and management of thyroid disease during pregnancy and the postpartum. Thyroid 27, 315–389 (2017).
Milham, S. & Elledge, W. Maternal methimazole and congenital defects in children. Teratology 5, 125–125 (1972).
Wolf, D., Foulds, N. & Daya, H. Antenatal carbimazole and choanal atresia: a new embryopathy. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 132, 1009–1011 (2006).
Laurberg, P. & Andersen, S. L. Therapy of endocrine disease: antithyroid drug use in early pregnancy and birth defects: time windows of relative safety and high risk? Eur. J. Endocrinol. 171, R13–R20 (2014).
Seo, G. H., Kim, T. H. & Chung, J. H. Antithyroid drugs and congenital malformations: a nationwide Korean cohort study. Ann. Intern. Med. 168, 405–413 (2018).
Laurberg, P. & Andersen, S. L. Antithyroid drug use in pregnancy and birth defects: why some studies find clear associations, and some studies report none. Thyroid 25, 1185–1190 (2015).
Andersen, S. L., Olsen, J., Wu, C. S. & Laurberg, P. Birth defects after early pregnancy use of antithyroid drugs: a Danish nationwide study. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 98, 4373–4381 (2013).
Momotani, N., Hisaoka, T., Noh, J., Ishikawa, N. & Ito, K. Effects of iodine on thyroid status of fetus versus mother in treatment of Graves’ disease complicated by pregnancy. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 75, 738–744 (1992).
Yoshihara, A. et al. Substituting potassium iodide for methimazole as the treatment for Graves’ disease during the first trimester may reduce the incidence of congenital anomalies: a retrospective study at a single medical institution in Japan. Thyroid 25, 1155–1161 (2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korevaar, T.I.M., Peeters, R.P. Antithyroid drugs and congenital malformations. Nat Rev Endocrinol 14, 328–329 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0012-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0012-6
- Springer Nature Limited