Methods: Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine levels were

determined in HIV carriers undergoing follow-up at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center HIV clinic in Jerusalem, Israel, and these thyroid measurements were correlated with clinical and laboratory variables pertaining to their disease, including disease duration, drug therapy, viral load, CD4 count, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and creatine kinase. Serum samples stored at -20 degrees C from the time of referral were tested as well.

Results: We recruited 121 consecutive patients with HIV or AIDS for this study: 60 Ethiopians and 61 Israeli patients. Of the 121 patients, 4 (3%) had abnormal thyroid function subclinical hypothyroidism in 2, overt hypothyroidism in 1, and overt hyperthyroidism Selleckchem YM155 in 1. Previously stored serum samples were available for 60 of the 121 patients and revealed 2 additional patients with subclinical hypothyroidism,

whose TSH has normalized in the subsequent test. Throughout the follow-up period of 3.2 +/- 1.9 years, the mean C59 wnt TSH level remained unchanged in the Israeli cohort but significantly declined in the Ethiopian cohort.

Conclusion: Thyroid function abnormalities were uncommon in these Israeli patients with HIV or AIDS. This finding does not support the need for routine thyroid function tests in this patient population. The decline in TSH level in the Ethiopian population over time probably represents a shift from an iodine-deficient to an iodine-sufficient country. (Endocr Pract. 2012;18:882-886)”
“Aim: To determine the current status of fetal CHD screening in our region and to establish a CHD screening system in Japan.

Material and Methods: Subjects were 168 fetuses

prenatally-diagnosed with CHD at four click here referral centers in Japan from 2003 to 2007. Subjects were divided into two groups: group A (n = 84) included cases without extracardiac sonographic abnormalities and known risk factors for CHD and group B (n = 84) included those with extracardiac sonographic abnormalities or risk factors. The diagnostics and outcomes between the groups were analyzed.

Results: There were more cases of single ventricle and restrictive ductus arteriosus and fewer cases of ventricular septal defect and double outlet right ventricle in groupA than in group B (P < 0.05). In group A, the most frequent referral reason was an abnormal four-chamber view. In group B, 37 cases had chromosomal anomalies. The mortality rates in group B were higher than those in group A (P < 0.05). There were no differences in mortality rates between fetuses without chromosomal anomalies in group B and group A.

Conclusion: Prenatally-diagnosed CHD were mostly limited to those cases with obvious abnormalities in the four-chamber view or those with chromosomal anomalies. Prenatal detection of CHD is useful for the prediction of outcomes.