Characteristics of thyroid function and its influencing factors in preterm infants born to mothers with preeclampsia

Abstract

Objective To investigate the characteristics of thyroid function and its influencing factors in preterm infants born to mothers with preeclampsia. Methods A total of 222 preterm infants, who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital from January to December 2019, were enrolled, and according to the presence or absence of preeclampsia in the mother, they were divided into experimental group with 120 infants and control group with 102 infants. Basic clinical data were collected from the preterm infants and their mothers, as well as the results of thyroid function test using peripheral venous blood of preterm infants at 10-14 d after birth. The Student’s t-test, a one-way analysis of variance, and the multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to investigate the influencing factors for thyroid function in preterm infants. Results There was no significant difference in maternal thyroid function between the two groups (P>0.05). The experimental group had a significantly higher se-rum level of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) than the control group (t=-2.76,P<0.01). The multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that systolic pressure of the mother and birth weight of the preterm infant were the main influencing factors for thyroid function in preterm infants (F=7.370,6.334,P<0.05). Conclusion Preterm infants born to mothers with preeclampsia have a significantly higher serum level of TSH than those born to mothers with normal blood pressure, and there is no significant association between serum TSH level of preterm infants and maternal thyroid function.

Keywords

• pre-eclampsia|parturition|thyroid function tests|root cause analysis|infant, premature