Gestation thytoxicosis associated with emesis in early pregnancy
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Date
2009-02Author
Ndungu, J R
Amayo, A
Quresshi, Z P
Kigondu, C Sekadde
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives: To determine the thyroid profile and the prevalence of gestational
thyrotoxicosis among women with emesis during early pregnancy.
Design: A descriptive cross - sectional study.
Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital acute gynaecology ward and the ante-natal
clinic.
Subjects: Seventy two women presenting with emesis up to 16 weeks gestation.
Main outcome measures: The levels of FT3, FT4, TSH and β-hCG during the first 16
weeks of gestation. Correlation between the thyroid hormones and β-hCG as well as
the severity of vomiting was also done.
Results: The point prevalence of gestational thyrotoxicosis was 8.3%. There was a
significant positive correlation between β-hCG levels and FT3 and FT4 (P-values
< 0.05), and a significant negative correlation between β-hCG and TSH (P < 0.05).
Correlation between the severity of vomiting and the thyroid hormones as well as
β-hCG was not statistically significant. Patients' age ranged from 14-38 years (median
26). Majority of the women studied were at a gestation of 8 to 11 weeks (38.9%). Most
patients (84.7%) had one to five episodes of vomiting per day. Peak β-hCG was at 12
- 15 weeks gestation.
Conclusions: Thyrotoxicosis does occur among women with emesis in pregnancy in
this set-up. Screening for it may be beneficial to such women and also those with high
serum β-hCG levels above the median for the gestational age
URI
http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/12741http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19894468
Citation
East African Medical Journal Vol. 86 No. 2 February 2009Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]