{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:47:17Z","timestamp":1760060837876,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758672000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Neonatal screening programmes for thyroid function testing, based on thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) assessment, detect both Permanent Congenital Hypothyroidism (PCH) and Transient Congenital Hypothyroidism (TCH). Maternal iodine-deficient dietary intake may result in compensatory neonatal TSH elevation; screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism (CH) is used as an indicator of the degree of iodine deficiency and of its control. In Greece, newborn screening for CH, using TSH measurement in dried blood spots (Guthrie card), began in 1979 through the Institute of Child Health (ICH). Although the general Greek population is considered iodine-replete, most pregnant Greek people are mildly iodine deficient according to the stricter WHO criteria. The aim of this retrospective study was to record the cases of TCH and the main causative factors over a 10-year period (2010\u20132019) in Greece, when the country was deemed to be iodine-replete. Methods: The number of births in Greece between 2010 and 2019 was retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) archives: 952,109 births were recorded. The total number of newborns assessed through the ICH was 951,342 (99%). During this period, 22,391 newborns were identified to have TSH &gt; 7 mIU\/L after the second check on the initial card. Among those, 17,992 underwent retesting with a serum sample. Out of the retested newborns, 1979 were screened positive for CH and immediately began treatment with levothyroxine. We followed up with families, paediatricians, and paediatric endocrinologists to determine whether L-thyroxine therapy had been successfully discontinued for at least two months after the child\u2019s third birthday. Successful contact was achieved with 889 individuals. From this group, 329 children had successfully discontinued thyroxine, classified as TCH. Demographic data, including gender, gestational age, and birth weight, were collected from the archives of the ICH. Maternal data, including thyroid medication use and the presence of elevated thyroid autoantibodies during pregnancy and childbirth, were also recorded. Results: Logistic regression analysis revealed that, while controlling for all other predictor variables, the odds ratio of transient hypothyroidism was 2.078 (95% CI: 1.530 to 2.821) for prematurely born children compared to those born at term. The effects of other factors on TCH versus PCH were not significant. Conclusions: It seems that prematurity is the main factor contributing to Transient Congenital Hypothyroidism in Greece, a recently iodine-replete country.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17193039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T09:43:12Z","timestamp":1758706992000},"page":"3039","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prematurity Appears to Be the Main Factor for Transient Congenital Hypothyroidism in Greece, a Recently Iodine-Replete Country"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Eftychia G.","family":"Koukkou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, \u201cHelena Venizelou\u201d Maternity Hospital, 11521 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Panagiotis","family":"Girginoudis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child Health, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7515-0255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michaela","family":"Nikolaou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Taliou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Tsigri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danae","family":"Barlampa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Panagiotidou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, \u201cHelena Venizelou\u201d Maternity Hospital, 11521 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5718-7441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioannis","family":"Ilias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, Hippokration General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christina","family":"Kanaka-Gantenbein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child Health, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece"},{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, First Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Agia Sophia Children\u2019s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kostas B.","family":"Markou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1185","DOI":"10.1089\/thy.1998.8.1185","article-title":"Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism Used as an Indicator of the Degree of Iodine Deficiency and of Its Control","volume":"8","author":"Delange","year":"1998","journal-title":"Thyroid"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1628","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.116.131953","article-title":"Neonatal Thyrotropin Concentration and Iodine Nutrition Status of Mothers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"104","author":"Nazeri","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am. 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