Antithyroid drugs and radioactive iodine. Fifteen years' experience with Graves' disease

Abstract
The population for this study included 186 patients who were treated between 1962 and 1977 for diffuse toxic goiter. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the primary mode of therapy, which was thioamides or 131I-NaI. Of 96 patients who were treated with primary drug therapy, only 16% experienced a prolonged remission (more than 2 yr) of hyperthyroidism. Except for a greater likelihood of remission among patients with mild hyperthyroidism, no other clinical features of Graves'' disease were predictive of the long-term response to drug therapy. Among the 90 patients who received primary 131I-NaI therapy, those who were pretreated with thioamides required a higher total dose to achieve a cure (13.8 vs. 9.6 mCi) and had a lower initial incidence of hypothyroidism (54 vs. 73%).

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