Cretinism

By: Ashley Peters

Description

• Form of hypothyroidism• Lack of thyroid gland activity• Causes very serious slowing in physical and

mental development. • Usually shows up in infants and children.

Cause

• Caused by a deficiency of thyroid hormone at birth and during infancy. – As a result of abnormal development of the

thyroid gland.– Can also be caused by a lack of iodine in the

patient’s diet, or if the thyroid is diseased or removed because of a disease.

Signs/Symptoms

• Floppy infant• Thick, protruding

tongue• Poor feeding• Frequent choking• Constipation• Dull appearing facial

features

• Dry, brittle hair and low hairline

• Short, thick neck• Short Stature• Short extremities

Diagnostic Procedures

• Diagnosis is confirmed by review of symptoms along with thyroid hormone blood tests.

• Based almost exclusively on checking the thyroid hormone level in the blood.

Treatment

• Vitally important that the condition is caught at the very early stages of the child’s birth.

• If the condition is caught early enough then the effects that have taken place have a chance of being reversed.

• Replacement Therapy• Blood levels are closely monitored after

replacement therapy.

Prognosis

• Very early diagnosis can result in a good outcome.

• Newborns diagnosed within the first month typically develop normal intelligence.

• Untreated Cretinism can develop in severe mental retardation and irreversible stunting of physical growth.

Prevention

• Can be prevented by iodine supplementation before conception, and iodine supplementation during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy.