Frequency of anti TPO positive subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnancy.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of anti TPO positive subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnancy. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study. Setting: Outpatient Departments of Gynaecology & Obstetrics and Medicine at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Quetta, Pakistan. Period: May 2020 to May 2021. Material & Methods: All the pregnant women of age 18-45 years   whose TSH   was above 2.5 uIU/ml and less than 10 uIU/ml  and  Total T4 was between 5.5-16 ug/dl was said to be having subclinical hypothyroidism and  is included in the study. Their age, TSH value, anti TPO and history of prior miscarriage was documented in proforma. Those pregnant women who were already on levothyroxine and taking biotin while performing TSH test were excluded from the study. For analysis SPSS version 20 was used. The calculated sample size was 42 with confidence interval of 95%. Results: Out of forty two pregnant women with subclinical hypothyroidism, 19 pregnant women were anti TPO positive (45.2%). The mean TSH was 5.26 uIU/ml. The highest number of subclinical hypothyroidism (50%) was in age group of 36-45 years. There was prior history of miscarriage in 9 pregnant women (21.4%). Conclusion: The frequency of anti TPO antibodies is high in subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnant women which increases with age and has association with history of prior miscarriage.