Prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan / Siti Alwati Deraman

The aim of the present study was to estimate the birth prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism and to identify the numbers of congenital hypothyroidism cases among 50-100 randomly patients at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the most common birth defects that occur in approximately 1:2000 to 1:4000 newborns. The common symptoms for congenital hypothyroidism include decreased activity and increased sleep, feeding difficulty, constipation and prolonged jaundice. This study is a - cross sectional study. The data was observed and recorded of screening and confirmatory results of congenital hypothyroidism at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. This study will involves 100 randomly newborn babies in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan (HTAA) that through a screening for congenital hypothyroidism. A total 100 randomly patients that screening for congenital hypothyroidism results will be analyse. The inclusion criteria in this study are newborn baby within 1st until 3rd day, abnormal screening test recorded in Chemical Pathology Laboratory. The exclusion criteria is normal results of screening test recorded in Chemical Pathology Laboratory. Congenital hypothyroidism is classified into permanent and transient form. The diagnosis confirmed by finding an elevated serum TSH (>21 uIU/mL) and low T4 level (<15 uIU/mL). From the results, there were two newborn babies identified with congenital hypothyroidism. The other 14 newborn babies were at borderline and after treatment their result showed they were not associated with congenital hypothyroidism. 84 newborn babies showed they were normal. To prevent from mental retardation and other side effects, babies with congenital hypothyroidism need to give the treatment as soon as possible. One of the ways to treat is by given thyroxine. Screening for congenital hypothyroidism should be done to each of newborn babies for early detection and avoid delayed treatment.