Postpartum Management of Women Begun on Levothyroxine during Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to maintain the euthyroid state. Women with decreased thyroid reserve preconception, most typically due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis, may develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Data over the last 20 years have reported a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in endocrinology (Lausanne) Vol. 6; p. 183
Main Author Stagnaro-Green, Alex
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 30.11.2015
Subjects
Antibodies
Endocrinology
Postpartum Period
Pregnancy
reserve
thyroid
treatment
hyperthyroidism
thyroid
hypothyroidism
postpartum thyroiditis
pregnancy
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to maintain the euthyroid state. Women with decreased thyroid reserve preconception, most typically due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis, may develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Data over the last 20 years have reported a strong association between subclinical hypothyroidism and adverse maternal/fetal events. As a result of this association, an increasing number of women are being screened for thyroid disease either preconception or at the first prenatal visit. Consequently, an ever increasing number of women are being initiated on levothyroxine for the first time during pregnancy. At present, there are very limited guidelines related to the management of the thyroid disease in these women postpartum. Based on an understanding of the physiology of the thyroid gland during pregnancy and postpartum, and the personal clinical experience of the author, recommendations for the postpartum management of women who were started on levothyroxine during pregnancy are presented.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
Reviewed by: Bijay Vaidya, University of Exeter Medical School, UK; Shannon Sullivan, Medstar Washington Hospital Center, USA
Edited by: Jacqueline Jonklaas, Georgetown University, USA
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Thyroid Endocrinology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology
ISSN:1664-2392
1664-2392
DOI:10.3389/fendo.2015.00183