Growth and Development of Hypothyroid Infants

  • Delbert A. Fisher
Conference paper
Part of the Serono Symposia USA book series (SERONOSYMP)

Abstract

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is classified as permanent and transient, and as sporadic and endemic (Table 22.1). The most common cause worldwide is iodine deficiency. It is estimated that there are 5.7 million cases of endemic cretinism worldwide (1,2). The prevalence of sporadic CH approximates 1 in 4,000 newborn infants in developed countries conducting newborn screening (3–5), and assuming a worldwide population of 6 billion persons, there are about 1.5 million sporadic hypothyroid individuals worldwide and probably 150,000–200,000 CH infants born yearly. The most common cause of sporadic CH is thyroid dysgenesis, accounting for 85–90% of cases; thyroid dyshormonogenesis accounts for about 10%, and other disorders for a variable 1–5% (4–6). Thyroid hormone resistance syndromes are uncommon; In 1993, Refetoff and colleagues reported 296 patients from 98 families (7).

Keywords

Thyroid Hormone Iodine Deficiency Congenital Hypothyroidism Thyroxine Treatment Endemic Cretinism 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2000

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  • Delbert A. Fisher

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