| Popis: |
This chapter assesses the psychomotor development of 3-year-old children and its relationship with maternal iodine nutrition and thyroid function throughout gestation. A group of 111 women who asked for antenatal assessment in an iodine-deficient area, in the inner west valleys of Asturias (Spain), were initially included in the study. Since only normal pregnancies and normal newborns were selected, only 61 women and their 3-year-old children were kept at the end of the follow-up. Urinary iodine excretion (UIE), serum thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were determined in pregnant women at the 12th and 32nd week of gestation and at delivery. TSH spotted onto filter paper on the third day of life, was measured in the newborns under study. Neonatal TSH levels of 5 mU/l or higher, especially in an iodine-deficient area are associated with a lower neurodevelopment score in 3-year-old children. The greatest deficits registered in the children of iodine deficient pregnant women are in the verbal subscale, and in the General Cognitive Index. The magnitude of this loss represents 10–11% of the adequately nourished children. In well-nourished women, serum fT4 at delivery is lower than in nonpregnant women by an average of 10–15%. The increased iodine renal clearance and diversion of a part of the available iodine to the feto-placental unit, worsen the situation in iodine-deficient women. |
