Umbilical Cord Blood TSH Level: A Reliable Screening Tool for Congenital Hypothyroidism

Abstract

Congenital hypothyroidism is one among the preventable causes of mental retardation. Indian Academy of Paediatrics recommends the use of cord blood samples for screening congenital hypothyroidism. In most cases, the disorder is permanent and results from dysgenesis or agenesis of thyroid gland or a defect in hormonogenesis.  A hospital based prospective cohort study was done to study the reliability of cord blood TSH in the diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1387 new born babies born in southern railway headquarters hospital between November 2015 to November 2016 to correlate the weight of baby in relation to cord blood TSH and also to study relationship between mode of delivery and cord blood TSH. Out of 1387 cord blood TSH values studied, the values were not influenced by the weight of the baby but values showed significant correlation with mode of delivery suggesting delivery stress might affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis at birth.