SOMATIC AND INTELLECTUAL-DEVELOPMENT OF C HILDREN WITH CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM

69 children with congenital hypothyroidism, who were detected by neona tal screening in Lower Saxony, were reevaluated 1-12 years after diagn osis. They had been treated either by regional children's hospitals, l ocal pediatricians or general practitioners. Substitution of thyroid h ormone had started for the majority between day 7 and 14, for 17%, how ever, only later. Symptoms suggestive of hypothyroidism at birth were observed in 35 children, but only 3 cases were correctly diagnosed bef ore the result of the screening was known. Further diagnostic tests to elucidate the cause of congenital hypothyroidism had been performed i n 33 children. In 36 cases the etiology remained undiagnosed at the ev aluation. Hormone therapy had been administered continously in all cas es. The somatic development of all children was normal. Bone a-e at th e time of diagnosis was retarded in more than 50%, later it became nor mal in most cases. The psychomotor and intellectual development was sa tisfactory as assessed by psychometric tests. The mean value of the In telligence Quotients in the children older than six years was 96.3. 5 children of this age group had an IQ below 85 and only one child had a n IQ of more than 115. In the younger group the results were similar, but children younger than 4 years showed deficiencies in speech develo pment. In summary, the somatic development of the re-examined children with congenital hypothyroidism was normal, but the psychomotor and in tellectual development was only subnormal in some cases. It is therefo re suggested that children with congenital hypothyroidism should be cl osely followed by experienced pediatricians, especially in the early y ears of life.