title: Choice of therapy in young adults with hyperthyroidism of Graves' disease. A brief, case-directed poll of fifty-four thyroidologists.
abstract: We asked 54 thyroidologists how they would treat each of four patients having moderate hyperthyroidism of Graves' disease and a thyroid gland weighing 70 g (three to four times normal). For a 19-year-old woman, 67% of thyroidologists recommended an initial course of therapy with antithyroid drugs, usually for 1 year; 24% favored radioiodine treatments; and 9%, surgery. Choices for treating a 19-year-old man were similar. For a 29-year-old man, 44% of thyroidologists preferred drug therapy; 50%, radioiodine; and 6%, surgery. For a 29-year-old woman, choices were similar to those for the 29-year-old man, except for a slight preference for drugs over radioiodine. If hyperthyroidism recurred after a first course of antithyroid drugs, the consultants favored radioiodine treatments and surgery about equally, except in the 29-year-old man, in whom radioiodine was preferred. This survey shows considerable variation among experts in treating hyperthyroidism in young adults.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005796:Genes / Q000528:radiation effects; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D008713:Methimazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011441:Propylthiouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013038:Specialization
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008713:Methimazole; D011441:Propylthiouracil