Efficacy of Radioiodine Therapy in Patients With Primary Hyperthyroidism: An Institutional Review From Pakistan

BackgroundRadioactive iodine (RAI) is the treatment of choice for most patients with primary hyperthyroidism. The most common etiologies of hyperthyroidism are Graves' disease (GD), toxic adenoma (TA), and toxic multinodular goiter (TMNG). A single dose of RAI is usually sufficient to cure hype...

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Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2022-05, Vol.14 (5), p.e24992-e24992
Main Authors: Alvi, Asim Munir, Azmat, Umal, Shafiq, Waqas, Ali Rasheed, Abdul Hannan, Siddiqi, Ahmed Imran, Khan, Sardar, Ashfaq, Sara, Irfan, Hira, Bashir, Humayun, Abu Bakar, Muhammad, Asghar, Kashif
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism
Females
Gender
Goiter
Hospitals
Hyperthyroidism
Hypothyroidism
Internal Medicine
Iodine
Medical records
Nuclear Medicine
Patients
Statistical analysis
Surgery
Thyroid gland
Tumors
Variables
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Summary:BackgroundRadioactive iodine (RAI) is the treatment of choice for most patients with primary hyperthyroidism. The most common etiologies of hyperthyroidism are Graves' disease (GD), toxic adenoma (TA), and toxic multinodular goiter (TMNG). A single dose of RAI is usually sufficient to cure hyperthyroidism. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of RAI therapy for patients diagnosed with primary hyperthyroidism.Methods and materialsPatients diagnosed with hyperthyroidism who received RAI therapy between 2008 and 2018 were included in the study. The data was acquired from the hospital's electronic medical record system. Following the RAI treatment, a cure was defined as the development of euthyroidism or hypothyroidism after a single fixed-dose without antithyroid medication within one year of RAI therapy. In addition, a simple logistics regression model was used to identify the prognostic factors that may lead to better outcomes.ResultsA total of 112 patients diagnosed with hyperthyroidism with a mean age of 47 ± 14 were included in this study. The majority of the patients were female, 79 (70.5%). Within one year of RAI therapy, 84 (75%) patients achieved a cure that is either hypothyroid or euthyroid status. RAI dose was higher in responsive patients (18.50 ± 4.10 millicurie [mCi] versus 16.50 ± 4.10 mCi) than in non-responsive patients. The mean RAI doses were 16.05 ± 2.99 mCi in GD, 19.81 ± 4.40 mCi in TMNG, and 20.50 ± 3.30 mCi in TA, with a statistically significant p-value of 0.001. In the univariable logistic regression model, RAI dose was a significant prognostic factor of the responsive group (OR: 1.15, CI [1.01-1.31], p-value 0.03).ConclusionOur data presented that RAI therapy is effective for primary hyperthyroidism. We achieved remission with a single fixed-dose in the majority of patients. Most of our patients were cured within three months of RAI therapy. In addition, the RAI dose was higher in the responsive group as compared to the non-responsive group.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.24992