Is congenital hypothyroidism inherited ?
Most cases of congenital hypothyroidism are sporadic, which means they occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family.  When inherited, the condition usually has an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. Typically, the parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they do not show signs and symptoms of the condition.  When congenital hypothyroidism results from mutations in the PAX8 gene or from certain mutations in the TSHR or DUOX2 gene, the condition has an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder. In some of these cases, an affected person inherits the mutation from one affected parent. Other cases result from new (de novo) mutations in the gene that occur during the formation of reproductive cells (eggs or sperm) or in early embryonic development. These cases occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family.