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Biomedical subjects

E Ikonen

Publications and source records attributed to E Ikonen.

86 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Antithyroid treatment of maternal hyperthyroidism during lactation.

Eleven pregnant women were treated for hyperthyroidism with carbimazole (CZ) and one with propylthiouracil (PTU). Based upon a previous study it was decided that lactation should be permitted if the dose required after delivery did not exceed 15 mg of CZ or 150 mg of PTU. In the patients studied here the daily dose of CZ varied from 5 to 15 mg and that of PTU was 125 mg. TSH was measured in cord blood and in the blood of the newborn infants usually after 2 and 3 weeks of lactation. Serum T4 was measured serially in the infants' blood from day 4 up to 21 day of age, at least. In all instances the TSH concentration in cord blood remained below 45 mU/l the level used in screening for neonatal hypothyroidism. Serum TSH and T4 were all within the appropriate reference limits during the 3 weeks of study with only one exception. In the infant whose mother was treated with PTU the serum T4 measured 5 d after birth was slightly below the lower limit but later returned to normal. Since serum TSH and T4 did not deviate from the reference range in newborn infants during lactation, we conclude that breast-feeding can be permitted if the daily dose of CZ does not exceed 15 mg (or 150 mg of PTU) and if facilities are available for measuring neonatal serum TSH and T4.

Carbimazole↗

Women on thyroid hormone therapy: pregnancy course, fetal outcome, and amniotic fluid thyroid hormone level.

Thirty-four hypothyroid women on thyroid hormone substitution were followed through 37 pregnancies, and 16 women having previous surgery for thyroid carcinoma and thereafter placed on suppressive thyroxine treatment were followed through 19 pregnancies. The thyroxine treatment needed readjustment in 13 pregnancies (23%) to maintain euthyroidism. At delivery, the maternal free thyroxine index was 126 nmol/L in the group of patients treated for hypothyroidism and 146 nmol/L in the patients with treated thyroid carcinoma. The amniotic fluid thyroxine level in normal pregnancies was 6.7 nmol/L, in hypothyroid patients 6.7 nmol/L, and in patients with thyroid carcinoma 5.6 nmol/L. The amniotic fluid reverse triiodothyronine level in normal pregnancies was 0.51 nmol/L, in hypothyroid patients 0.66 nmol/L, and in patients with thyroid carcinoma 0.70 nmol/L. All infants were euthyroid.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Treatment of maternal hyperthyroidism with antithyroid agents and changes in thyrotrophin and thyroxine in the newborn.

Eleven pregnant women with concomitant hyperthyroidism were treated with antithyroid drugs. At monthly intervals serum thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were measured with radioimmunoassay, the Sephadex uptake of radioactive triiodothyronine (T3U) determined the free T4 and T3 indices calculated (FT4I, FT3I). TSH-binding inhibiting immunoglobulins (TBII) were determined by the radiomembrane assay. Serum TSH and T4 were measured at delivery from cord blood and/or from the newborn infants some days after birth. Serum TSH was significantly elevated in one infant. There was an inadequate post-partal rise in serum T4 concentration in this child and in another who showed only a marginal elevation of TSH. The mothers of these infants were given carbimazole in doses of 30 and 25 mg/day, respectively, at the time of delivery. No significant changes were seen in other infants, the daily doses being 20 mg of carbimazole or less. There was no clinical indication of hypo- or hyperthyroidism in any of the newborn. The TBII were positive in most patients and there was a trend of normalization during treatment. No relationship between the dose of antithyroid drug and the level of TBII could be seen. During treatment the dose was adjusted according to the FT3I values. This seems to be an adequate laboratory test for this purpose.

Adult↗

Thyrotoxicosis and pregnancy. An analysis of 43 pregnancies in 42 thyrotoxic mothers.

During the period 1965-1976, 43 pregnancies in 42 thyrotoxic mothers were seen. Thirty-nine pregnancies in 38 patients were analyzed further. Twenty-six patients (27 pregnancies) were treated with antithyroid agents with (9) or without (17) supplemental thyroid hormone therapy and 5 were subjected to subtotal thyroidectomy. In these groups spontaneous abortion occurred in 4 patients (12.5%), prematurity in 3 (9.4%) and perinatal death in one whereas 25 pregnancies ended at term (78%). Two pairs of twins were born and the number of live children in these 32 pregnancies was 29. Hypothyroidism developed in one patient after operation. Thyroid crisis occurred at delivery in one patient in whom the antithyroid therapy was interrupted before labour. Seven patients were not treated with specific antithyroid therapy. In this group there was one twinbirth, one premature birth, one stillbirth and one child died shortly after birth. Thyroid crises developed at delivery in two mothers. The authors use subtotal thyroidectomy if usual indications for operation are present and antithyroid therapy when the thyroid gland is small and diffuse. Beta-receptor blocking agents are recommended only as adjuncts to the antithyroid therapy. A close surveillance of the patients and the free thyroid hormone level during therapy is important and after thyroidectomy treatment with thyroid hormone is recommended until after delivery.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Fetal risks due to warfarin therapy during pregnancy.

Two mothers with heart valve prosthesis were treated with warfarin during pregnancy. In the first case a caesarean section was done one week after replacement of warfarin with heparin. The baby died of cerebral and pulmonary hemorrhage. The second mother had a male infant by caesarean section. The baby showed warfarin-induced embryopathy with nasal hypoplasia and stippled epiphyses (chondrodysplasia punctata). Nasal hypoplasia with or without stippled epiphyses has now been reported in 11 infants born to mothers treated with warfarin during the first trimester, and a causal association is probable. In view of the risks to both mother and fetus in women with prosthetic cardiac valves it is recommended that therapeutic abortion be advised as the first alternative.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Serum bile acids in cholestasis of pregnancy.

Using routine liver function tests, cholestasis of pregnancy was diagnosed in 86 pregnant women with pruritus. Serum aminotransferase levels were elevated in all cases, ASAT in 99%, and ALAT in 100%. In these patients serum concentrations of cholic, chenodeoxycholic, and deoxycholic acid were determined using a gas chromatographic method and were compared with those in a group of 40 uncomplicated pregnancies. Of these bile acids, cholic acid levels were most frequently elevated, ie, in 92% of the patients. The frequency of elevation of serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, and total and conjugated bilirubin was lower. Thus, it appears that in addition to serum aminotransferase levels the serum cholic acid concentration is a sensitive indicator of cholestasis of pregnancy. The cholestasis series was divided into 3 subgroups of increasing severity of cholestasis as assessed by maternal serum cholic acid levels, and the occurrence of signs of fetal distress was compared between these subgroups. The only intrauterine fetal loss in the series belonged to the severe cholestasis group. The incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid also increased significantly in this group, and 21 of the 24 cases with other signs of fetal distress were in the groups of moderate and severe cholestasis.

Alanine Transaminase↗

Fetal prognosis in obstetric hepatosis.

116 women with obstetric hepatosis gave birth in the years 1971-1972 at the First and Second Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Central Hospital, Helsinki. This accounts for a 1.1% incidence of all deliveries at this hospital. During most of these pregnancies fetal well-being was monitored by amnioscopy, by the oxytocin challenge test, by maternal urinary oestriol determinations and by estimating the fetal biparietal diameter weekly. In 38% of these pregnancies, signs of fetal distress were found, mainly an abnormal heart rate, or heart rate pattern, and/or meconium-stained amniotic fluid. These led to increased frequencies of induction of labour and of Caesarean sections performed because of asphyxia or imminent asphyxia as compared with a control group with similar age and parity distribution. There was an increase in the occurrence of twin pregnancies in the hepatosis series (7.6%). There were 4 intrauterine and altogether 8 perinatal losses of 125 infants born to hepatosis mothers. These observations suppport the opinion that there are increased risks for the fetus in pregnancies complicated by obstetric hepatosis. Amnioscopy and fetal heart rate recording during the delivery and oxytocin challenge test were found to be valuable in monitoring the fetal condition. The use of oestriol determinations, at least by employing the method in general clinical practice, was found to be of limited value in the predictive assessment of fetal distress in hepatosis. This might be due to impurities disturbing the determinations or to changed oestrogen metabolism in cholestasis.

Adult↗