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MICHIKO YAMAMOTO, TETSUYA IGARASHI, SATOSHI KIMURA, SHOJI TSUKAMOTO, KIYOSHI TOGAWA, ETSURO OGATA, Thyroid Suppression Test and Outcome of Hyperthyroidism Treated with Antithyroid Drugs and Triiodothyronine, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 48, Issue 1, 1 January 1979, Pages 72–77, https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-48-1-72
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Abstract
One hundred twenty-nine patients with Graves' disease were studied in an attempt to evaluate prospectively the eventual result of medical treatment with thionamide antithyroid drugs and T3, as guided by thyroidal 20-min I3II uptake values. Sixty-three patients entered the range of our arbitrary criteria for suppression (thyroidal 20-min 131I uptake of less than 10% on one occasion, or between 15–10% on two consecutive examinations performed 6 months apart) after 13–77 months of treatment, at which point medication was stopped (suppressed group). Of these, 57 patients were followed for 6–92 months and relapse occurred in only 3 patients, 9–46 months after stopping treatment (relapse incidence, 5.3%). In 66 patients, the uptake did not enter the range of our criteria in spite of 12–117 months of treatment (nonsuppressed group). Of these, 12 patients interrupted medication and 7 experienced relapse, 1–8 months after stopping treatment (relapse incidence, 58.3%). Comparison of the suppressed group with the nonsuppressed group of patients in respect to several clinical parameters (age, sex, goiter size, eye signs, severity of thyrotoxicosis, and serum thyroid autoantibodies) yielded no clinical means for distinguishing the two groups with high reliability.
Our study indicates that thyroidal 20-min 131I uptake test during treatment with thionamide drugs and T3 is very useful in deciding the time when medication can safely be stopped.
