Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Thyroid function

The complexity of maternal hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Uncertainty exists about the best approach to manage levothyroxine dosage in women with hypothyroidism, once they become pregnant. The etiology of an individual's hypothyroidism might be a key determinant of the optimal time and duration of dose adjustments, say the authors of a retrospective review published in the journal Thyroid.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Haddow, J. E. et al. Maternal thyroid deficiency during pregnancy and subsequent neuropsychological development of the child. N. Engl. J. Med. 341, 549–555 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Mandel, S. J., Larsen, P. R., Seely, E. W. & Brent, G. A. Increased need for thyroxine during pregnancy in women with primary hypothyroidism. N. Engl. J. Med. 323, 91–96 (1990).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Alexander, E. K. et al. Timing and magnitude of increases in levothyroxine requirements during pregnancy in women with hypothyroidism. N. Engl. J. Med. 351, 241–249 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Loh, J. A., Wartofsky. L., Jonklaas, J. & Burman, K. D. The magnitude of increased levothyroxine requirements in hypothyroid pregnant women depends upon the etiology of the hypothyroidism. Thyroid 19, 269–275 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Canaris, G. J., Manowitz, N. R., Mayor, G. & Ridgway, E. C. The Colorado thyroid disease prevalence study. Arch. Intern. Med. 160, 526–534 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Glinoer, D., Riahi, M., Grün, J. P. & Kinthaert, J. Risk of subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnant women with asymptomatic autoimmune thyroid disorders. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 79, 197–204 (1994).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Verga, U. et al. Adjustment of L-T4 substitutive therapy in pregnant women with subclinical, overt or post-ablative hypothyroidism. Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf.) 70, 798–802 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rotondi, M. et al. Effects of increased thyroxine dosage pre-conception on thyroid function during early pregnancy. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 151, 695–700 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erik K. Alexander.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alexander, E. The complexity of maternal hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Nat Rev Endocrinol 5, 480–481 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2009.153

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2009.153

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing