Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: The most common cause of maternal hyperthyroidism during pregnancy is Graves’ disease (GD). The aim of this study was to investigate the perinatal complications and the risk of thyroid dysfunction at early childhood of mothers with GD during pregnancy.

Method: Pregnant women with GD (n=93) and aged-matched randomly selected healthy pregnant women (n=140) were recruited retrospectively. The prenatal and newborn data were collected and analyzed. Toddlers with GD mothers (n=30) and non-GD healthy mothers (n=36) were also recruited for thyroid function and growth assessments.

Results: Newborns of mothers with GD had significantly higher complications than of non-GD mothers (34.41% vs. 7.86%, P < 0.05). Maternal hyperthyrodism was an independent risk factor of stillbirth, infants with a low birth weight and congenital malformation with odds ratios of 9.33, 9.33 and 7.29 respectively. Antithyroid drugs (ATDs) reduced fetal distress and stillbirth of GD mothers from 9.52% and 23.81% to 6.94% (P < 0.05) and 4.17% (P < 0.001), respectively. Toddlers’ serum levels of FT3, FT4, anti-thyroglobulin antibody, and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody were significantly higher than those of non-GD mothers (all P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Pregnancy with GD increased the risk of stillbirth, infants with a low birth weight and congenital malformation. Euthyroidism by ATD treatment reduced GD-induced perinatal complications effectively. Maternal GD may also induce a higher risk of autoimmue thyroid dysfunction at early 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 research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector