Endocrine Abstracts

During this presentation, I will share my views on the effects of maternal thyroid hormone on child brain development. I will discuss the physiology of maternal thyroid function during pregnancy and how this relates to time-dependent processes of fetal brain development. I will also discuss the various aspects of assessing fetal brain development. This is particularly important because we can only assessments fetal brain development in the children after birth, and we have to use proxy measurements such as child IQ or developmental disorders. I will share an overview of recent clinical studies that have used different approaches to identify and quantify the relevance of maternal thyroid hormone for fetal brain development. I will discuss common pitfalls in the setup and interpretation of such studies and share my views on what is needed in the future. Finally, I will discuss the interpretation of current available randomized trials and provide insights into the potential harms associated with levothyroxine overtreatment.