Summary A characteristic thyroid test profile is observed in pregnancy; it consists of an elevated serum thyroxine (TJ), thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) and electro‐phoretic index (EI) with lowered triiodothyronine resin uptake (T3U), the free thyroxine index (FTI) remaining in the normal range. An investigation was made of progressive changes in these parameters in 70 normal pregnant women, 34 pregnant women with a past history of habitual abortion who carried to term, seven habitual aborters who miscarried again, and 49 women at the time of spontaneous miscarriage. The results indicated that normal women reached a typical pregnancy thyroid test profile at seven to eight weeks' gestation while habitual aborters carrying a pregnancy to term reached it at 14 to I5 weeks and almost all patients who miscarried never reached it at all. In addition, four women who had aborted previously and were treated with thyroxine throughout six pregnancies, developed a normal “thyroid profile” and carried their pregnancy to term. The significance of the “predictive value” of the test profile is discussed.

Summary The capacity of serum thyroxine‐binding globulin (T.B.G.) and albumin to bind added radiothyroxine in vitro has been utilized as a diagnostic test of thyroid function. After electrophoresis on cellulose acetate, the ratio of radioactivity in the α1‐ to α2 globulin zone to the total radioactivity present in the protein area, expressed as a percentage, is termed the electrophoretic index (E. I.). The normal range of values lies between 61% and 75% (mean, 68·9±3·86). The hyperthyroid range is below the lower limit (mean, 54·9±6·03), while hypothyroid values are above the upper limit (mean, 79·8±2·90). The E.I. for normal pregnancy is invariably over 80%. The clinical conditions under which the E.I. is most contributory to correct diagnosis, in the presence of conflicting protein bound iodine and resin uptake results, include treated thyroid disease and suspected thyroid dysfunction in which there is a high blood level of iodine as a result of laboratory contamination, the use of X‐ray media or the intake of iodine preparations. In the case of those patients who have an abnormal binding capacity of T.B.G. because of changes in the protein pattern which are either inherent, disease‐induced, or the result of the intake of drugs or hormones, the estimation of the E.I. is of value in establishing the underlying cause. A knowledge of the E.I. is also helpful in the detection of hypothyroidism in early infancy, and its use gives consistently reliable results in the diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis coinciding with pregnancy.

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