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Right arrow Endocrinology

PEDIATRICS Vol. 101 No. 5 May 1998, pp. 865-869

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Very Preterm Infants in Relation to L-Thyroxine Supplementation

Received Jun 6, 1997; accepted Sep 9, 1997.

Bert J. Smit*, Joke H. Kok*, Linda S. de VriesDagger , Aleid G. van Wassenaer*, Friedo W. Dekker§, and Bram W. Ongerboer de Visserparallel

From the Departments of * Neonatology, § Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and parallel  Clinical Neurophysiology, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and the Dagger  Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Objective.  To study the effect of L-thyroxine supplementation on neurologic maturation in very preterm infants with transient hypothyroxinemia.

Design.  Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, L-thyroxine supplementation trial.

Setting.  Level III neonatal intensive care unit.

Subjects.  A total of 200 infants <30 weeks' gestational age.

Intervention.  Subjects were randomly assigned to receive L-thyroxine (8 µg/kg birth weight per day) or a placebo during the first 6 weeks of life.

Methods.  Median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded, measuring cortical N1 peak latency at 2 weeks of age, at term, and at 6 months (corrected) age.

Results.  Cortical N1 peak latency was not decreased significantly in the L-thyroxine group compared with the placebo group throughout the study period.

Conclusion.  L-Thyroxine supplementation during the first 6 weeks of life did not decrease cortical N1 peak latency in infants of <30 weeks' gestational age.

Key words: electrophysiology, evoked potentials, hypothyroidism, hypothyroxinemia, preterm infant, somatosensory, thyroxine.