European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Cord blood TSH estimation has the benefits of being easy to collect, non-invasive and low rates of follow up loss as the results would be obtained at an earliest, enabling repeat sampling if required. Various maternal and perinatal factors are known to affect TSH levels. Objective: To analyse umbilical cord blood TSH levels of new borns and its association with perinatal risk factors. Materials & Method: A total 200 pregnant women who delivered by normal vaginal delivery, caesarean section. 5 ml of umbilical cord blood was collected in a red top vial from the placental end within five minutes of delivery. Samples were allowed to clot for 30 min, separated by centrifugation at 3500 rpm for 5 min then the serum was aliquoted. Finally, biochemical analysis was done on it and cord serum TSH level was estimated by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) Results: On evaluating the variables, gestational age with cord blood TSH among 200 samples, the mean among term babies in 170 samples were found to be 7.8mIU/L, and for preterm babies it was 12.0 mIU/L out of 30 samples. When comparing mode of delivery with cord blood TSH among 200 samples, the mean among babies born by elective LSCS in 151 samples was found to be 6.4 mIU/L, for emergency LSCS in 36 samples were 18.3mIU/L, and for normal vaginal delivery (NVD) it was 8.1 mIU/L out of 13 samples. Conculsion: The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in our study is much higher when compared to other countries across the globe. Deferment in diagnosis can lead to lifetime intellectual impairment. Estimation of umbilical cord blood TSH is a practical, an easily available alternative for screening of congenital hypothyroidism.