Short-term triiodothyronine in prevention of temporary hypothyroidism after subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves' disease.
To determine whether short-term thyroid hormone replacement prevents or merely delays temporary hypothyroidism after surgery for Graves' disease, serum T3, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and T4 were measured every 2 months for 18 months in two groups of Graves' disease patients who had had subtotal thyroidectomy. Group I (18 patients) were given T3 20 microgram four times daily from surgery through the twelfth postoperative month. Group II (18 patients) received no treatment. Hypothyroidism occurred at some time during the 18-month period in 10 group-II patients, but was temporary in 7. Temporary hypothyroidism did not occur in group-I patients, whose mean T4 level rose to that in group II within 2 months of T3 withdrawal. Short-term T3 replacement after surgery for Graves' disease thus prevents (and does not simply delay) temporary postoperative hypothyroidism without increasing the frequency of permanent hypothyroidism.
D000328:Adult; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D006728:Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood; D013997:Time Factors; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood
D006728:Hormones; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D013972:Thyrotropin; D013974:Thyroxine