| Summary: | Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/Open Half a century ago the Icelanders were reported to have the smallest thyroid gland of all nations whose thyroid gland weight was known. This has been thought to be caused by the rich iodine content of the Icelandic food. For that reason and others it is of interest to study some of the thyroid pathology and treatment in Iceland. Treatment of hyperthyroidism with radioiodine (I-131) has become the method of choice amongst adults in Iceland during the last decade. From the beginning of 1985 to the end of October 1991 a total number of 267 hyperthyroid patients were treated with radioiodine at the radioisotope unit of Landspitalinn, the only unit in Iceland involved in that treatment. The radioactivity administered to the patients, the dose of radioactive iodine, was relatively small and aimed at 7000 rads to the thyroid gland. Of 216 patients treated during the years 1985-1990, 41 (19%) needed a second treatment or more due to persisting hyperthyroidism. These patients had significantly larger thyroid glands and higher iodine uptake than the rest of the patients. Two measurements of serum TSH and T4 within 6 months after treatment indicated that about one third of the patients were going from hypothyroid state to euthyroid or hyperthyroid state and vice versa up to that time. These measurements further indicated that about 50% of the patients were hyperthyroid and about 27% hypothyroid at the end of 6 months. A further study by mailed questionnaire to 241 patients (response rate = 75.1%) revealed that about 30% had developed hypothyroidism within 8 months and about 50% within 2 years of treatment. Of the whole group 60% had developed hypothyroidism 7 years after treatment. When groups of patients for each year were studied it was found that there was about 6% average increase of hypothyroidism each year beyond the incidence of the first year. In 7 years from treatment 77% of the patients had developed hypothyroidism. ...
|
|---|