Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to describe demographic and clinical characteristics of neonates born to mothers with active or past Graves disease and to assess compliance since implementation of a new protocol in our center.
Methods: We prospectively followed up neonates born to mothers with active or past Graves disease in a tertiary hospital in Spain between August 2019 and September 2021 according to our protocol. We reviewed maternal and neonatal history of these neonates, and we followed up newborns at risk of neonatal hyperthyroidism.
Results: Among 5808 births, 33 neonates were born to mothers with active or past Graves disease (0.57%). Six mothers (18.2%) had positive levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies during pregnancy and five mothers (15.1%) between weeks 20 and 24 of pregnancy. Two of them had received definitive therapy for Graves disease before pregnancy. Two neonates (7.1%) were at high risk of neonatal hyperthyroidism and were followed-up until two months, without hyperthyroidism signs or abnormal thyroid hormone levels. Compliance of protocol during pregnancy was 84.9% and 75.8% at birth.
Conclusions: Prevalence of Graves disease among pregnant women was 0.57%, with no cases of neonatal hyperthyroidism. Compliance of protocol was adequate during pregnancy (84.9%) and acceptable at birth (75.8%).
Keywords: Graves disease; hyperthyroidism; newborn; pregnancy; thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies.