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Somatosensory evoked potentials in very preterm infants in relation to L-thyroxine supplementation
B J Smit1, J H Kok, L S de Vries
1Department of Neonatology, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 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 microg/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.