Short-Term Evaluation of Newborns from Mothers with Grave's Disease: A Case Series Study

Introduction: Maternal Graves' disease may be responsible for neonatal complications as well as neonatal hyperthyroidism. The aim was to determine the characteristics and course of neonates born to mothers with Graves' disease.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective case series study conducted jointly by the Internal Medicine and Pediatrics departments of the Abass Ndao Hospital in Dakar. It involved patient records registered from 2006 to 2021.

Results: One hundred and thirty-seven (137) mothers with their newborns were included. The mean age was 29 years with +/- 6.93. The diagnosis of Graves' disease was known prior to pregnancy in 119 of our patients (86.8%). The majority of mothers (59.22%) were on imidazole alone prior to pregnancy.

Birth weights ranged from 1,200 g to 7,000 g, with an average of 2,775.6 g. Most newborns were eutrophic (61.32%). Forty-seven newborns (34.3%) presented complications, including 16 cases of neonatal death. Two-thirds (22/33) of infants were euthyroid. 56.20% of mothers practiced exclusive breast-feeding, mostly with therapeutic abstention or readjustment of synthetic antithyroid drugs doses. Only 33 (24%) newborns had a thyroid check-up. During the first three months of life, there were 9 cases (27.7%) of hyperthyroidism and 2 cases of hypothyroidism. At 6 months, 3 cases of persistent hyperthyroidism. One had associated bilateral exophthalmos.

Conclusion: Thyroid disorders affect one-third of children born to basedowian mothers. However, they are transient in the majority of cases. It is also worth noting the low rate of systematic thyroid work-up, which may bias the interpretation of the results obtained.