Standard dose 131I therapy for hyperthyroidism caused by autonomously functioning thyroid nodules.

Abstract

Thirty-one patients with hyperthyroidism shown on scintigram to have autonomously functioning thyroid nodules were treated with a standard dose of 15 milliocuries (mCi) of 131I. Of thirty patients who have been followed up for a least 6 months to over 3 years, all but one patient were euthyroid after a single dose. Repeat scintigram and Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH) test after therapy confirmed that twenty-five patients were cured of the disease. Only one patient developed hypothyroidism. This simplified standard dose regimen of radioiodine is effective in the treatment of hyperthyroidism caused by autonomously functioning nodules and is not complicated by the high incidence of hypothyroidism that is observed following radioiodine therapy of Graves' disease.