MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access Fetal 2-D ultrasonography in maternal Graves’ disease

Graves ’ disease complicates about 0.1-1.0 % of all preg-nancies [1,2]. Despite its rare occurrence in pregnant women, Graves ’ disease constitutes a great therapeutic challenge. Maternal thyroid stimulating antibodies (TSAbs) cross the placenta and can overstimulate the fetal thyroid after the 20th week of gestation (WG), when fetal TSH receptors become responsive to TSH and TSAbs. On the other hand, transplacental passage of antithyroid drugs (ATD), which influence fetal thyr-oid much more than the maternal gland, can cause fetal hypothyroidism. The progress in prenatal ultrasonography (US) enables early diagnosis of fetal thyroid dysfunction without per-forming invasive procedures such as fetal blood sampling. According to all the current guidelines [1-4], fetal U