Relation between birth weight and thyroid function in preeclampsia-eclampsia.

Maternal thyroid function was investigated in 37 preeclamptic and 8 eclamptic patients and 45 normal pregnant women in the third trimester as controls. There were significant correlations between maternal values of total thyroxine (TT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3), thyroxine-binding globulin, free thyroxine index and birth weight of newborns in the patients with preeclampsia-eclampsia, but there was no correlation in the controls. Also, the maternal free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine, triiodothyronine uptake and thyroid stimulating hormone values showed no correlation with the birth weights of babies in both groups. The reduced serum concentrations of TT4 and TT3 may reflect the severity of preeclampsia.