We planned to recruit 110 pregnant patients receiving routine prenatal care at a single tertiary-level teaching hospital in northern Paris, France. We studied pregnant women living in the northern part of the Paris conurbation and their fetuses and neonates. The objective of the prospective observational study reported here was to assess the impact of maternal iodine status on fetal and neonatal thyroid gland size. To date, no consensus has been developed regarding the appropriateness of iodine supplementation before and during pregnancy.

We use both our own unpublished reference curves and the curves established by Ranzini et al.įrance is considered an area of moderate iodine deficiency.

We have many years of experience with ultrasonographic fetal thyroid gland measurements. Increased size of the neonatal thyroid gland measured using ultrasonography just after delivery has been reported in infants born to mothers with iodine deficiency. The prevention, early detection, and immediate correction of iodine or thyroxine deficiency in pregnant women are high priorities. Compared with maternal hypothyroidism, iodine deficiency may have an even greater impact on fetal neurocognitive development, ,, probably because the area under the curve of fetal blood thyroxine concentrations is lower. During pregnancy, an appropriate supply of iodine is essential to maintain homeostasis in both the mother and the fetus.

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