Effects of Inorganic Iodine Therapy Administered to Lactating Mothers With Graves Disease on Infant Thyroid Function

Context: The effects of maternal inorganic iodine therapy on infant thyroid function are not well known.

Objective: This study investigated the effects on infant thyroid function of maternal inorganic iodine therapy when administered to lactating mothers with Graves disease.

Design And Setting: This study was a prospective case series performed at the Tajiri Thyroid Clinic, Kumamoto, Japan.

Participants: Subjects were 26 infants of lactating mothers with Graves disease treated with potassium iodide (KI) for postpartum thyrotoxicosis.

Main Outcome Measures: Infant blood levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine were measured using the dried filter-paper method. Iodine concentrations in breast milk and infant urine were measured on the same day. Subclinical hypothyroidism was defined as a blood TSH level of ≥10 or ≥5 μIU/mL in <6-month-old and 6- to 12-month-old infants, respectively.

Results: The median age of the infants was 3 months (range, 0 to 10 months). The median KI dose was 50 mg/d (range, 10 to 100 mg/d). High median iodine concentrations were detected in breast milk (15,050 μg/L; range, 831 to 72,000 μg/L) and infant urine (15,650 μg/L; range, 157 to 250,000 μg/L). Twenty-five of 26 infants had normal thyroid function. Although one infant had subclinical hypothyroidism (blood TSH, 12.3 μIU/mL), the TSH level normalized to 2.3 μIU/mL at 2 months after KI discontinuation.

Conclusion: In Japan, where iodine intake is sufficient, administration of inorganic iodine to lactating mothers with Graves disease did not affect thyroid function in most infants despite high levels of exposure to iodine via breast milk.