The case for universal thyroid screening in pregnancy

P. Srimatkandada, E.N. Pearce, and A. Stagnaro-Green from Boston Medical Center, MA, and George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, analyzed the results of a survey that asked participating physicians whether or not to test pregnant women for thyroid dysfunction. More than 90% of the respondents were endocrinologists.

Universal thyroid screening in pregnancy was recommended by 74% of the survey respondents. All were in factor of thyroid testing in pregnant women with symptoms of hypothyroidism or a family history of Graves' disease, and 99% recommended testing for women with goiter.

"Decreased thyroid function can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes; however, the recommendations for thyroid function testing in pregnancy are controversial, especially for healthy women with no risk factors for thyroid disease, largely due to inadequate data to guide decision making," says Ronald J. Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., Program Committee Co-Chair, and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor. "This makes the study by Srimatkandada and colleagues particularly important, because it indicates what expert thyroidologists actually do in their practice."