Thyroid Dimensions Using Handheld Point-of-Care (bedside) Ultrasound Scan of the Thyroid Gland in Neonates in Port Harcourt and a Review of Literature.

INTRODUCTION: Handheld point-of-care (bedside) ultrasound scan machine is gaining popularity in clinical practice. Using point-of-care ultrasound scan can check the presence (anatomy) and blood flow within the thyroid gland and may be used as screening tool for CH.

METHODOLOGY: Neonates aged 0-3 days underwent ultrasound scan of the neck using a point-of-care (bedside) pocket sized GE V scan machine ® to demonstrate the thyroid dimensions and colour flow for each lobe of the gland. The mean dimensions generated were compared with those from a center in Glasgow, Scotland using Student's "t"test.

RESULTS: Seventy healthy neonates were recruited, 33 males and 37 females before being discharged from maternity units. The mean gestational age at birth was 39.4 weeks (range 37- 2) mean weight of the children was 2.98 kg (±0.51). The mean total thyroid volume was 1.62 mL (±0.18) and this was to that from Glasgow.

CONCLUSION: Handheld point-of-care (bedside) US is useful in determining thyroid gland dimensions in newborn babies and the volume measurements obtained thus far are comparable to those from Glasgow.