Title
Effects of increasing levothyroxine on pregnancy outcomes in women with uncontrolled hypothyroidism
Date Issued
01 January 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Maraka S.
Singh Ospina N.
O'Keeffe D.
Rodriguez-Gutierrez R.
Espinosa De Ycaza A.
Wi C.
Juhn Y.
Coddington C.
Clinica Mayo, Rochester
Publisher(s)
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Abstract
Objective: Uncontrolled hypothyroidism has been associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of increasing levothyroxine (LT4) dose on reducing the risk of adverse outcomes for pregnant women with TSH level greater than the recommended 1st trimester limit. Design, Patients, Measurements: We reviewed the electronic medical records of pregnant women evaluated from January 2011 to December 2013, who had history of LT4-treated hypothyroidism and were found to have TSH > 2·5 mIU/l in 1st trimester. Women were divided into two groups: group A – LT4 dose was increased within two weeks from the TSH test, group B – LT4 dose remained stable. We compared the frequency of pregnancy loss (primary outcome) and other prespecified pregnancy-related adverse outcomes between groups. Results: There were 85 women in group A (median TSH: 5·0, interquartile range 3·8–6·8 mIU/l) and 11 women in group B (median TSH: 4·5, interquartile range 3·2–4·9 mIU/l). The groups were not different in baseline clinical and socioeconomic characteristics. The mean interval between TSH test and LT4 dose increase was 4·5 (SD 4·6) days. Pregnancy loss was significantly lower in group A (2/85, 2·4%) vs group B (4/11, 36·4%) (P = 0·001). Other pregnancy-related adverse outcomes were similar between groups. Conclusions: Increasing LT4 dose for women with uncontrolled hypothyroidism in the 1st trimester of pregnancy was associated with a decreased risk of pregnancy loss. Given the limitations of our study, this association awaits further confirmation from larger studies.
Start page
150
End page
155
Volume
86
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Endocrinología, Metabolismo (incluyendo diabetes, hormonas)
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84994493195
PubMed ID
Source
Clinical Endocrinology
ISSN of the container
0300-0664
Sponsor(s)
We would like to thank Dr. Eleftheria Kalogera for her input in developing the strategy for obtaining the study cohort. We would like to thank Philip H. Wheeler and Janice Chezick for geocoding the addresses to real estate property data required for the calculation of HOUSES index. We would also like to thank Dr. Darci Block for the information provided regarding the assays. We would like to thank Prabin Thapa for his help with the statistical analysis. Finally, the abstract of this study was presented at the AACE 25th Annual Scientific & Clinical Congress in Orlando, FL, 25–29 May 2016, and was awarded the Jeffery R. Garber, MD Fund Fellows Award. This publication was made possible by CTSA Grant Number UL1 TR000135 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NIH.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus