Document Details Document Type : Article In Journal  Document Title : Are women at an increased risk of gestational thyrotoxicosis Are women at an increased risk of gestational thyrotoxicosis   Subject : Obstetrics and Gynecology  Document Language : English  Abstract : OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relative importance of thyroid hormones and human chorionic gonadotropin in relation to the risk of gestational thyrotoxicosis in Saudi women living in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted on Saudi healthy pregnant women (N=406) at 12-15 weeks of gestation and compared with healthy non-pregnant controls (N=200). Maternal serum levels of free thyroxine free triiodothyronine, thyrotropin, human chorionic gonadotropin and free b-human chorionic gonadotropin together with urinary iodine excretion were determined. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences among the groups for different variables and the Bonferroni criterion was used when significance tests were made. RESULTS: Pregnant women were classified into 2 groups according to the lower limit of serum thyrotropin levels in non-pregnant euthyroid controls at >= 0.3 mIU/L (Group one) or < 0.30 mIU/L (Group 2). Suppressed levels of serum thyrotropin (< 0.30 mIU/L) were found in 11.1% of pregnant women which was accompanied by significant increases in free thyroxine (P<0.001), free triiodothyronine (P < 0.05), human chorionic gonadotropin (P<0.001) and b-human chorionic gonadotropin (P<0.001). A significant negative correlation between serum levels of thyrotropin and that of human chorionic gonadotropin (r=-0.381, P<0.001) was observed. The relative risk of having a serum thyrotropin level of < 0.30 mIU/L was 4.89 (P<0.001) for the pregnant women examined as compared with non-pregnant controls. Approximately 5.6% of the women examined exhibited biochemical evidence of thyrotoxicosis. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study show that Saudi pregnant women are at risk of developing biochemical evidence of thyrotoxicosis during early gestation, and thus, are likely to be at greater risk of clinically evident gestational thyrotoxicosis and hyperemesis gravidarum. Genetically determined differences in the synthesis or metabolism of human chorionic gonadotropin isoforms, or both may contribute to this increased risk  ISSN : 0379-5284  Journal Name : The Saudi Medical Journal  Volume : 23  Issue Number : 6  Publishing Year : 1423 AH 2002 AD  Article Type : Article  Added Date : Sunday, April 3, 2011  Researchers Researcher Name (Arabic) Researcher Name (English) Researcher Type Dr Grade Email محمد العرضاوي Ardawi, Mohammed Investigator Doctorate   حسن نصرت Nasrat, Hasan Researcher Doctorate   عبدالرحيم روزي Rouzi, AbdulRahim Researcher Doctorate   Files File Name Type Description  29497.pdf pdf   Back To Researches Page