Prevalence of thyroid disorder in Down syndrome

Abstract

Thyroid function was studied in 121 patients between 13-48 yr old with proven Down syndrome. Chemically, hypothyroidism was found in 17% and hyperthyroidism in 2.5% of the patients; 18% of patients had goiter. Thyroid antibodies were detected in 33% of subjects studied. The abnormal findings were almost equally distributed between the sexes above 20 yr of age; however, females had significantly more thyroid disease than males in the younger age group.