Table 1.

Appraisal of universal thyroid screening in pregnancy based on the Wilson and Jungnen criteria.

Criteria		Hypothyroidism	Hyperthyroidism	Comments
1	Importance			Common condition with established adverse feto-maternal effects
2	Accepted treatment			Accepted for overt disease but uncertain for subclinical thyroid dysfunction
3	Facilities available			Widely available and relatively inexpensive
4	Latent period			May be difficult to distinguish physiological from subclinical states
5	Suitable test			Need for local gestational age-specific reference ranges
6	Acceptable test			Acceptable and established
7	Natural history			May be difficult to distinguish physiological adaptations from true pathology
8	Agreed policy			No consensus for subclinical thyroid dysfunction
9	Economically viable			Cost-effective overall and for overt hypothyroidism only
10	Continuing Process			Screening is a continuing process

, Fulfills criteria; , Partially fulfills criteria; , Does not fulfill criteria.