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Biomedical subjects

R A Cuestas

Publications and source records attributed to R A Cuestas.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Thyroid function in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome.

Thyroid function was evaluated in premature infants 30 to 35 weeks EGA with severe RDS and was compared to that of healthy control subjects of similar EGA. The infants with RDS had significantly lower serum levels of T3, T4, and FT4I during the first 60, 90, and 30 days, respectively, and had elevated T3UR during the first 10 days. The mean (+/- SD) postdelivery TSH peak was lower in the RDS group (32.8 +/- 9.6 muU/ml) than in the control group (60.9 +/- 21.8 muU/ml; P less than 0.005). After TRH injection the increment in serum TSH was inversely related to the basal FT4I in the control infants but not in the infants with RDS.

Gestational Age

Thyroid function in healthy premature infants.

Thyroid function was studied in healthy premature and term infants between 12 hours and 3 months of age. T4 and FT4I followed parallel courses in both groups; during the first 45 days, however, the values were significantly lower in premature infants under 34 weeks' EGA than in term infants (P less than 0.001). The post-delivery peak in TSH concentration (mean +/- SD) was 71.8 +/- 19.2 microunits/ml in the premature infants. In five premature infants, injection of TRH elicited a TSH increment of 29.4 +/- 20.7 microunits/ml at 30 minutes. T3 concentration was not significantly different in premature and term infants.

Female

Low thyroid hormones and respiratory-distress syndrome of the newborn. Studies on cord blood.

To investigate the relation between thyroid function and respiratory-distress syndrome we determined thyroid hormone in cord serum from 39 term and 120 premature newborns. In groups matched for gestational age (33 to 37 weeks) and body length, after exclusion of newborns with birth asphyxia, maternal diabetes and delivery by cesarean section, the newborns with respiratory distress syndrome had significantly lower cord tri-iodothyronine index, higher ratio of thyroxine to tri-iodothyronine and higher thyrotropin concentration than those without syndrome (P less than 0.05 or less). Conversely, the frequency and severity of respiratory-distress syndrome were higher in newborns who had low cord tri-iodothyronine and thyroxine concentration, low free tri-iodothyronine index and high thyrotropin levels. These observations show an association between low thyroid activity at birth and respiratory-distress syndrome and are in accord with animal studies showing accelerated lung maturation due to thyroxine administration.

Birth Weight