Subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnancy, is it a real risk?

Dr Linda Calabresi

writer

Dr Linda Calabresi

GP; Medical Editor, Healthed

Claim CPD for this activity

Educational Activities (EA)

0 hours

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

Reviewing Performance (RP)

0 hours

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

Measuring Outcomes (MO)

0 hours

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

EA
0 minutes

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

RP
0 minutes

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

MO
0 minutes

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

Dr Linda Calabresi

In the ‘largest analysis to date’, researchers have determined that subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with preterm birth but have stopped short of recommending screening.

It is well-known that overt thyroid disease in pregnancy is linked with preterm birth, as defined as delivery before 37 weeks. But whether milder forms of thyroid disease make a difference has been controversial.

Consequently, research published in JAMA looked at 19 prospective cohort studies that had investigated this issue. Over 47,000 pregnant women were included. What the reviewers found was that three types of mild thyroid abnormality were linked with prematurity. These were isolated elevated TSH (which increased the risk of 29% compared with euthyroid women), isolated decreased thyroxine levels (which increased the risk by 46%),  and women who were euthyroid but had thyroid antibodies (TPO positive) who were 33% more likely to have a preterm birth.

PASSWORD RESET

Forgot your password or password not working? Please enter your email address. You will receive an email with the link to set a new password.

Icon 2

NEXT LIVE Webcast

:
Days
:
Hours
:
Minutes
Seconds
Dr Alexander Sweetman

Dr Alexander Sweetman

Insomnia – Drug & Non-Drug Management

Dr Tracy Leong

Dr Tracy Leong

Lung Cancer Screening Has Started – What GPs Need to Know

Dr Andrew Leech

Dr Andrew Leech

Managing Paediatric Anxiety in General Practice

Prof Rodney Baber AM

Prof Rodney Baber AM

Menopausal Hot Flushes Management

Join us for the next free webcast for GPs and healthcare professionals

High quality lectures delivered by leading independent experts

Share this

Share this

Dr Linda Calabresi

writer

Dr Linda Calabresi

GP; Medical Editor, Healthed

Test your knowledge

Recent articles

Latest GP poll

When do you plan to retire or leave general practice?

Within the next 12 months

0%

Within the next 3 years

0%

Within the next 5 years

0%

Within the next 10 years

0%

More than 10 years

0%

Recent podcasts

Listen to expert interviews.
Click to open in a new tab

Find your area of interest

Once you confirm you’ve read this article you can complete a Patient Case Review to earn 0.5 hours CPD in the Reviewing Performance (RP) category.

Select ‘Confirm & learn‘ when you have read this article in its entirety and you will be taken to begin your Patient Case Review.

Menopause and MHT

Multiple sclerosis vs antibody disease

Using SGLT2 to reduce cardiovascular death in T2D

Peripheral arterial disease