POSTPARTUM THYROIDITIS - RETROSPECTIVE ST UDY IN A FRENCH COUNTRY (1986-1988)

Post-partum thyroiditis' prevalence has not been previously evaluated in France. Objective: to study prospectively a cohort of delivered wom en to evaluate the prevalence of antimicrosomal antibodies and dysthyr oidism during the post partum period. Design, patients and measures: 4 00 women were observed 4 to 12 weeks after delivery and evaluated for the presence of a goiter and a measure of antimicrosomal antibodies (A MA) and us TSH. A subgroup of these selected women was then prospectiv ely followed. HLA typing was also performed. Results:4 to 12 weeks aft er delivery, a goiter was found in 40 women. 19 women had positive AMA levels. No abnormality in thyroid function was detected during this p eriod. In these selected women, 8 cases of dysthyroidism, mainly hypot hyroidism, were diagnosed later on, 3 to 9 months after delivery. One of them became AMA positive during the followup, so the AMA prevalence was 5%. HLA DR4 and the hyplotype HLA A3B7 were more frequent in this selected population. Conclusions: Post-partum thyroiditis is a rare a nd benign disease in France. The transient dysthyroidism occurs later than 3 months after delivery, mainly in women with positive AMA (5% of the parturients). HLA DR4 is more often encountered in this thyroid p athology, as already observed in other Caucasian populations.