Assessing growth parameters of children with congenital hypothyroidism subject to levothyroxine treatmentcompared to normal growth parameters in healthy newborns

Background and aims: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the most common treatable physical growth disorders leading to mentalretardation. Most cases of this disease can be detected through the neonatal screening program. Given the high prevalence of this diseaseand the implementation of screening programs in recent years in Iran, this study aimed to assess the growth indices of newborns with CH.Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, ۶۶ newborns with CH detected in the screening program in Shahrekord were selected by acensus sampling method. Overall, ۱۲۵ healthy newborns were also selected as controls by the convenience sampling technique accordingto the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The height, weight, head circumference, and body mass index (BMI) of the samples were measuredand then the mean, median, standard deviation, as well as the ۳rd, ۱۵th, ۲۵th, ۵۰th, ۷۵th, ۸۵th, and ۹۷th percentiles in the two groups weredetermined and compared based on gender and age group.Results: The height, weight, head circumference, and BMI of the boys, in addition to the head circumference and BMI of the girls, were notsignificantly different from those of the controls (P > ۰.۰۵). However, the height and weight of the girls were significantly lower comparedto those in the control group, although the difference in the weight was corrected at the age of ۹ months.Conclusion: In general, the growth indices of newborns with CH were lower than those of the controls. This difference was significant onlyfor the weight and height of girls with CH.

Keywords:

Congenital hypothyroidism , Growth indices , Newborn screening