ROUTINE THYROID-FUNCTION TESTS IN INFERTILE WOMEN - ARE THEY NECESSARY

To investigate the yield of routine thyroid function testing in infert ile women, the records of 444 infertile women were categorized to stan dard infertility groups. Thyroid function was evaluated by measuring p lasma free thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone. All free thyroxi ne values were in the normal range (0.8 to 1.8 ng/ml), and only three thyroid-stimulating hormone values were higher than the normal range ( 0.15 to 4.5 mlU/L). The three women had ovulatory dysfunction. Thyroid function testing is more prudent in screening the subset of infertile women with ovulatory dysfunction and not as a routine measure in the infertile population.