Thyroid Gland and Iodiuria of Neonates in an Area with Adequate Iodine Intake

Overview

The authors examined 258 neonates during the first week after delivery, focused on ultrasonographic asses-sment of the volume of the thyroid gland. Moreover in 75 neonates and their mothers also iodiuria was assessedand in 44 mothers iodine excretion in milk. The mean volume of the thyroid gland in neonates was 0.60 ± 0.2 ml.Infants born in term had larger thyroid glands than premature infants (0.62 ± 0.2 ml, 0.45 ± 0.1 ml, P < 0.1). Theauthors did not find a correlation between the volume of the thyroid gland and body weight. The median of iodiuriain neonates was 6.5 mg/dl and in mothers 6.1 mg/dl. Between the iodiuria of the mothers and that of their childrena correlation was found (r = 0.372, P < 0.01). The median of iodine excreted in milk was 5.5 mg/dl. Adequate iodineintake by the mother during pregnancy can influence also the size of the thyroid gland of her neonate. The assessedvalues of thyroid volumes are adequate, however, larger volumes such as 1 ml were recorded more frequently inchildren of multiparae (11/16). Therefore it would be useful to consider whether even in areas with an adequateiodine intake the iodine intake of multiparae should not be increased.

Key words:
thyroid volume, neonates, iodiuria, iodine content of milk