Análise longitudinal do hipotireoidismo congênito em crianças: impactos no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor

Abstract

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the main preventable causes of intellectual disability in childhood, resulting from insufficient production of thyroid hormones from birth. This condition directly interferes with fundamental processes of neurological development, such as myelination, synaptogenesis and brain maturation. The present study aims to analyze the impacts of CH on child neuropsychomotor development, through a longitudinal literature review. The analysis included 27 articles published in the last 20 years, focusing on the motor, cognitive and linguistic development of children diagnosed with CH. The results show that, even with early diagnosis and treatment, subtle and persistent deficits can occur, especially in the areas of gross motor development, attention, memory and expressive language. Among the factors found to influence the clinical outcome of the patient, the following stand out: time of diagnosis, initial dose of levothyroxine, changes in hormone levels and socioeconomic factors, such as family income and education of guardians. Therefore, neonatal screening and immediate treatment with levothyroxine are essential to minimize sequelae, but they do not completely eliminate the risks, and continuous multidisciplinary monitoring is necessary. It is concluded that continuous multidisciplinary monitoring, focusing on motor, cognitive and communicative areas, is essential to mitigate the effects of the condition and promote the integral development of children with CH, thus improving the long-term prognosis.