The Evaluation of Patients with Hyperthyroidism Treated with Radioactive Iodine-131

Abstract

Aim: Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland produces and secretes excessive amounts of the thyroid hormones into circulation. It is one of the common endocrinologic disorders. There are three methods in treatment of hyperthyroidism. These are antithyroid medication, radioactive iodine-131 (RAI) therapy and surgery. In this study, we aimed to evaluate RAI treatment efficacy in patients with hyperthyroidism in the light of laboratory results and clinical pictures. Material and Method: Two hundred and seventy six patients with hyperthyroidism (average age: 50.9 years, age range: 1882 years) who received RAI treatment and then followed up for at least 6 months were included in the study. Patients' medical recordings were analysed retrospectively. Results: Seventy one patients were men (average age: 51.2 years, age range: 18-80 years), the rest were women (average age: 50.7 years, age range: 18-82 years). According to thyroid ultrasound or physical examination findings, 102 patients had diffuse thyroid hyperplasia, the other patients had nondiffuse hyperplasia (nodular or multinodular). RAI was given to the patients once or twice, or three times if necessary. In first RAI treatment, average 13.1 mCi, in second, average 16.6 mCi, in third, average 25 mCi RAI were given orally. Treatment was accepted as successful if the patients had become hypothyroid or euthyroid. Success rate of RAI treatment was 76%. The highest success rate was obtained in patients who have diffuse thyroid hyperplasia. Serious side-effects were not observed in our patients. Discussion: In treatment of hyperthyriodism with RAI in our clinic we observed approximately similar success rates with the reported results in the literature, and also side-effects of RAI treatment were low. We believe that RAI treatment should be first choice for treatment of hyperthyroidism in selected patients, because it is easy to perform and its side- effects are very low.