Graves'-Basedow disease in pregnancy: New trends in the management and guidance to reduce the risk of birth defects caused by antithyroid drugs

Thyroid hormones are essential development factors and maternal thyroid dysfunction may cause pregnancy complications and diseases in the fetus/child. In the present review we discuss new data on the incidence of Graves'-Basedow disease (GBD) in and around pregnancy, and how hyperthyroidism may affect the risk of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. A special concern in pregnant women is the potential side effects from the use of antithyroid drugs (ATDs). One type of side effects is the allergic/toxic reactions to the drugs, which seem to be similar in and outside pregnancy, and another is that ATDs tend to over treat the fetus when the mother with GBD is made euthyroid. To avoid fetal hypothyroidism, the lowest possible ATD dose should be used to keep maternal thyroid function at the upper limit of normality with low serum TSH. Birth defects after the use of methimazole (MMI) (or its prodrug carbimazole) have been considered to be very rare, and no risk has previously been associated with the use of propylthiouracil (PTU). However, a recent Danish national study found that 1/30 of children exposed to MMI in early pregnancy had birth defects associated with this, and many defects were severe. PTU exposure was associated with defects in 1/40, and these defects were less severe. Proposals are given on how to reduce the risk of ATD associated birth defects.