| Abstract | An appraisal of a 17-year primary thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) screening programme for the detection of congenital hypothyroidism was carried out to establish the reference interval of cord blood TSH in unaffected infants; the mean cord blood TSH concentration of affected infants and the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in the Najran province of Saudi Arabia. Our findings show a reference interval of cord blood TSH of 2.0-16.8 mU/l in unaffected infants; a mean cord blood TSH concentration of 399 mU/l in affected infants; a false positive rate for the diagnosis of at-risk infants of 1.02% and a congenital hypothyroidism incidence rate of 34/100 000 (1 : 2931) live births. These findings suggest that there is a need to reset the cord blood TSH concentration for the detection of at-risk infants. We suggest that the detection level of cord blood TSH for the recognition of at-risk infants can be set at 90 mU/l rather than the recommended level of 30 mU/l. This should reduce the false positive rate for detection of infants at risk of congenital hypothyroidism. |
| Authors | O O Ogunkeye, A I Roluga, F A Khan
(Affiliation: Laboratory Departments, King Khalid Hospital, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. obaogunkeye at hotmail.com)
|
| Journal | Journal of tropical pediatrics
(J Trop Pediatr)
Vol. 54
Issue 1
Pg. 74-7
(Feb 2008)
ISSN: 0142-6338 England |
| PMID | 17878179
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study)
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| Chemical References |
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| Topics |
- Congenital Hypothyroidism
(blood, diagnosis, epidemiology)
- False Positive Reactions
- Fetal Blood
(chemistry)
- Humans
- Incidence
- Infant, Newborn
- Neonatal Screening
(methods)
- ROC Curve
- Reference Values
- Saudi Arabia
(epidemiology)
- Thyrotropin
(blood, diagnostic use)
|
