Newborn Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Levels in Heel Prick Blood at the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Thyroid hormone is necessary for normal brain growth, myelination, normal neuronal connections and physical growth. The most critical period for the effect of thyroid hormone on brain development is the first few months of life. No data from Cameroon that described the iodine status and thyroid function of the Cameroonian pregnant women and neonates is available. This study determined the newborn Thyroid Stimulating Hormone levels at the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital-Cameroon and demonstrated the association between perinatal factors and newborn TSH levels. Subjects and method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done from the 10th January to 10th March 2017. On the third day of life, the heel prick blood obtained and dropped on a filter paper was analyzed for TSH using the commercial Human Neonatal TSH ELISA Kit (Catalog number EL10012N from Anogen, Yes Biotech Laboratories Ltd. Canada). The mean Thyroid Stimulating Hormone levels of the newborns were determined and, considering the perinatal factors and one-way analysis of variance were used to determine any correlation between the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone values and perinatal factors. Results: 180 newborns were recruited during the study period. The Thyroid Stimulating Hormone values were normally distributed, within the range of [1.17-2.57 μIU/ml]. The mean Thyroid Stimulating Hormone value for the subjects was 1.59 ± 0.22 μIU/ml. 96.11% were within [-2SD and + 2SD]. Only high birth weights have been found to be associated with the high Thyroid Stimulating Hormone levels. Conclusion: This study presented the normal reference values for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone in Cameroonian newborns at the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital Cameroon. Using this result, no neonates in the study had values pointing to a Congenital Hypothyroidism diagnosis.