Cretinism
Pharmacological management
Causes
Clinical manifestations
Nursing intervention
Defination
Jaundice, pale skin
Floppiness, low muscle tone
Very little crying, excessive sleep
Myxoedema
Poor feeding, constipation
Fatigue, lethargy
umbilical hernia
Lack of weight gain, stunted growth
goiter
Abnormal bone growth
a genetic defect that affects thyroid hormone production
Too little iodine in the mothers diet during pregnancy
Abnormally small thyroid gland or poor formation
Radioactive iodine or anti-thyroid treatment for thyroid cancer during pregnancy
Use of medicines that disrupt thyroid hormone production such as anti-thyroid drugs, sulfonamides, or lithium during pregnancy
Increase fluid intake
Manage respiratory symptoms
Autoimmune diseases
Avoid external heat exposure
Protect against coldness
Pulmonary symptoms
Promote rest
Recommended starting dose of levothyroxine for congenital hypothyroidism is 10 to 15 μg/kg/day.
Pathophysiology
The pathogenesis of neurologic cretinism is obscure but may be due to severe thyroid hormone deficiency during a critical early phase of central nervous system development in utero.
Newborns with elevated TSH should be treated empirically with thyroid hormone replacement until they are aged 2 years
to eliminate any possibility of permanent cognitive deficits caused by hypothyroidism.
Endemic cretinism is a developmental disorder that occurs in regions of severe endemic goiter.
clusters of infants with goiter and hypothyroidism in a defined geographic area.