Different Measurements of Thyroid Function in Hypothyroid Infants Diagnosed by Screening

Hulse, J. A., Jackson, D., Grant, D. B., Byfield, P. G. H. and Hoffenberg, R. (Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London W.C.1). Different measurements of thyroid function in hypothyroid infants diagnosed screening. Acta Paediatr Scand, Suppl. 227: 21, 1979.—Different measurements of thyroid function including I 123 thyroid scanning were performed in 16 hypothyroid infants diagnosed by a TSH screening project. These results were then related to the clinical presentation and the bone age. Although T3 levels were preferentially maintained, it was the best single measure of the severity of hypothyroidism. Thyroglobulin may have a role in the diagnosis of athyrosis. Scanning showed that athyrosis was uncommon (12.5%) but an ectopic gland occurred in 40%, and accounts for many of the less severely affected cases found on screening. Some of these measurements may have prognostic significance.