Randomized Controlled Trial on Comparison of the Course of Hyperthyroid Patients with and Without Antithyroid Drugs During the Immediate Post Radioactive Iodine Treatment Period

authors:

avatar MFR Gafate 1 , avatar L Mercado-Asis 2 , *

Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Sto Tomas Hospital, Philippnes
Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Sto Tomas Hospital, m_gafate@yahoo.com, Philippnes
International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism: Vol.6, issue 1; 1-5
article type: Original Article
received: June 17, 2007
accepted: December 26, 2007

how to cite: Gafate M, Mercado-Asis L. Randomized Controlled Trial on Comparison of the Course of Hyperthyroid Patients with and Without Antithyroid Drugs During the Immediate Post Radioactive Iodine Treatment Period. Int J Endocrinol Metab. 2008;6(1): 1-5. 

Abstract

This study was done to compare the clinical course of hyperthyroid patients with and without anti-thyroid drugs immediately post radioactive iodine treatment. Materials and Methods: Patients with mild to moderate hyperthyroidism, aged 18 to 60 years, were divided into 2 groups, those who received RAI plus anti-thyroid (ATD) (propylthiouracil 100 mg q8H) (group A) and those who received RAI only (group B). Fixed doses of 8 mCi 131I were given and symptoms were scored daily for 3 weeks, using 3-severe, 2-moderate, 1-mild scores. Descriptive analysis using mean and standard deviation was used to determine the demographic profiles and Mann Whitney t-test for independent samples was utilized to com-pare the symptoms between the two groups. All statistical tests were pegged at .05 alpha level and p-values less than .05 were considered sig-nificant. Results: There were 3 males and 5 females in group A (n=8, mean age: 38±12.82 yrs) and 2 males and 6 females in group B, (n=8, mean age: 41.37±15.14 yrs). TSH was suppressed in both groups and the mean FT4 for group A was 13.87±16.51 pmol/L, and for group B was 28.51±15.86 pmol/L. There was no significant dif-ference in age, FT4 and TSH. Mean scores were as follows: (Group A vs. Group B), week one: 1.36 vs. 1.55 (p=0.01); week two: 1.08 vs. 0.94 (p= 0.110), and week three: 0.71 vs. 0.92 (p= 0.006). A highly significant decrease in symptoms was noted in week three. Conclusion: Analysis of our data showed that patients given ATD immediately post RAI ex-perienced lesser symptoms of thyrotoxicosis dur-ing the first and third week after RAI treatment, favoring treatment with ATD.

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