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The prevalence of moderate or severe neurologic abnormalities among the 120 infants whose mothers received iodine in the first or second trimester was 2 percent,as compared with 9 percent among the 752 infants who received iodine during the third trimester(through the treatment of their mothers)or after birth(P=0.008).The prevalence of microcephaly(defined as a head circumference more than 3 SD below U.S.norms)decreased from 27 percent in the untreated children to 11 percent in the treated children and the mean developmental quotient at two years of age increased. Treatment in the third trimester of pregnancy or after delivery did not improve neurological status but head growth and developmental quotients improved slightly.Treatment during the first trimester,which was technically problematic,improved the neurologic outcome.Up to the end of the second trimester,iodine treatment protects the fetal brain from the effects of iodine deficiency.Treatment later in pregnancy or after delivery may improve brain growth and developmental achievement slightly but it does not improve neurological status. |
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