Baby born without a thyroid; Any BTDT? Peds, Have you seen this?

[ha98ed14]

I just got a call that my 5 day old nephew was born without a thyroid. They caught it at the newborn follow up visit because his jaundice was not going away, I think. Apparently it also showed up on some test they do immidiately after birth While they should be able to treat it the doctor says, my sister is really worried that this is indicative of a larger syndrome. They are doing tests now. Any BTDT?

[Tondi G]

Blood tests are also done to diagnose hypothyroidism. All babies are tested for hypothyroidism right after they're born, even if they don't have symptoms. It's important to treat a baby with hypothyroidism in the first few weeks of life. Otherwise, the baby won't grow and develop normally.

The good news is that hypothyroidism is easy to treat. Kids with this disease will have to take a pill every day, but their symptoms will go away. They'll usually need to take this medicine for the rest of their lives, but it's a simple way to make sure the body has enough thyroid hormone to grow and develop normally.

Kids who have been growing slowly because of hypothyroidism will usually catch up to their correct height after they're treated. They'll go through puberty the way they should, too. Kids who have hypothyroidism will also need to have blood tests to measure their thyroid hormones once or twice a year to guide their treatment.

With a little care, the thyroid and the conditions it may cause can be easily managed.