Endocrine Abstracts

We studied the growth data and bone maturation of 45 CH children (25 girls, 20 boys) with CH, diagnosed through the national screening program in Qatar, for 6 years or more to examine the effects of initial T₄ dosage (50 μg/day) with adjustment of T₄ dose to maintain serum fT₄ concentrations within the upper quartile of normal range and TSH<4 mIU/ml. Birth weight, length and head circumference of patients (3.21±0.43 kg, 50.5±3.21 and 34.1±1.5 cm respectively) did not differ than those for 10 560 normal newborns with normal thyroid function (3.19±0.59 kg, 50.5±2.2 cm and 34.2±1.7). In CH children linear growth velocity during the first year (25.8±2.8 cm/year) was similar to those for normal infants (25.5±0.75 cm/year). During the first 6 years stature growth was normal in all children with CH. The mean HtSDS of CH children showed adjustment (±0.5 S.D.) towards their mid-parental height SDS (MPHtSDS) only during the second year of life. Children mean HtSDS was higher by an average of 0.4 S.D. between the 2nd and 7th year of life. These data proved that effective screening and treatment completely assures normal linear growth in patients with CH. In conclusion, this treatment protocol maintains normal linear growth with HtSDS that slightly exceeds their MPHtSDS during infancy and childhood.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details unavailable.

Authors have nothing to disclose.

Figure 1 LHtSDS±1S.D. of CH children vs midparental (MPHt) HtSDS±1S.D.