Small for gestational age is a risk factor for thyroid dysfunction in preterm newborns

BMC Pediatrics

Table 2 Thyroid hormonal levels within the normal range, incidences of thyroid dysfunction, and rates of treatment and follow-up in the SGA and AGA groups

	SGA(n = 189)	AGA(n = 661)	P-value
Thyroid hormone levels within the normal range^c
TSH (mU/L)^a	3.74 (2.28 ~ 6.18)	3.01 (1.81 ~ 5.41)	0.018
FT4 (pmol/L)^b	17.76 ± 3.94	17.42 ± 3.71	0.371
FT3 (pmol/L)	3.57 ± 0.73	3.51 ± 0.69	0.362
Thyroid dysfunction determined by TFTs
Transient Hypothyroidism	4 (2.12)	10 (1.51)	0.565
Transient Hypothyroxinemia	22 (11.64)	83 (12.56)	0.576
TH with dTSHe^d	3 (1.59)	2 (0.30)	0.005
Hyperthyrotropinemia	21 (11.11)	59 (8.93)	0.331
Low T3 syndrome	9 (4.76)	37 (5.60)	0.413
Treatment and follow-up
L-T4 treatment	55 (29.10)	137 (20.73)	0.015
Follow-up months
0 ~ 6 m	44 (23.28)	96 (14.75)	0.004
7 ~ 12 m	5 (2.65)	16 (2.46)	0.861
13 ~ 18 m	1 (0.53)	4 (0.61)	0.904
> 18 m	4 (2.12)	9 (1.38)	0.456

^a Presented as median (interquartile range)
^b Presented as mean ± standard deviation
^c Normal range: TSH 1.3 ~ 9.91 mU/L for male, 0.77 ~ 19.42 mU/L for female; FT4 11.85 ~ 33.81 pmol/L; FT3 2.63 ~ 5.70 pmol/L
^d TH with dTSHe: Transient hypothyroxinemia with delayed TSH elevation

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