yperthyroidism is a common endocrine disorder. A recent national survey found a prevalence of 0.5% in the general US population. The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease, which accounts for 80% to 90% of cases. Three treatment options currently are available for patients with Graves’ disease: radioiodine therapy, antithyroid drugs, and thyroidectomy. The clinician should choo...

Cholestyramine (CS) is an ion exchange resin, which binds to iodothyronines and would lower serum thyroid hormone level. The use of CS added to conventional antithyroid drugs to control thyrotoxicosis has been applied since 1980's, and several studies indicate that using CS in combination with methimazole (MZ) produces a more rapid decline in serum thyroid hormones than with only MZ treatment. ...

Two patients with amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis were treated successfully with potassium perchlorate and carbimazole while treatment with amiodarone was continued. These antithyroid drugs were stopped after the patients had became clinically and biochemically euthyroid. During follow up, when treatment with amiodarone continued, thyrotoxicosis did not recur. Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosi...

Three hormones, thyroxine (3,5,3 ,5 -tetraiodothyronine, or T4), triiodothyronine (3,5,3 -triiodothyronine, or T3), and calcitonin (see Chapter 66) are secreted by the thyroid gland. The hormones T4 and T3 are iodinecontaining amino acid derivatives and are unique in that they have no discrete target tissue. Every tissue in the body is affected in some way by thyroid hormones, and almost all ce...

Of 240 pesticides screened for carcinogenicity by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs, at least 24 (10%) produce thyroid follicular cell tumors in rodents. Thirteen of the thyroid carcinogens also induce liver tumors, mainly in mice, and 9 chemicals produce tumors at other sites. Some mutagenic data are available on all 24 pesticides producing thyroid tumors. M...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether clinical and biochemical features of Graves' disease at presentation predict response to medical and radioiodine treatment. METHODS We carried out a retrospective 10-year study of 194 consecutive Saudi subjects with Graves' disease who were treated with antithyroid drugs, radioiodine therapy, or both, between January 1995 and December 2004 at King Khalid Univers...

Myasthenia gravis and Graves' disease are two autoimmune diseases with a similar mechanism, both having circulating organ autoantibodies and cell specific autoantibodies. It is not unusual for these diseases to occur together. There is a large body of data proving that antithyroid drugs such as methimazole and propylthiouracil have an immunomodulatory effect in addition to their thyrosuppressan...

UNLABELLED Acquired cerebellar ataxia has been described with hypothyroidism, and is typically reversible by thyroid hormone replacement therapy. The cerebellar dysfunction has been attributed to metabolic and physiological effects of the endocrine disorder. In a few patients, however, ataxia has persisted despite thyroid replacement therapy. Other mechanisms may be involved in ataxia associate...