Thyrotoxicosis in Sierra Leone: diagnosis and treatment with radioactive iodine (131I).
During a three and a half year period, 367 patients were referred from various areas of Sierra Leone for further evaluation of thyroid function. Thyroid hormone assays with commercial kits and radioactive iodine (131I) uptake confirmed the diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis in 17 patients. Thus, the relative rarity of thyrotoxicosis in black Africans, previously described by several authors, was demonstrated also in this study. Eleven of the 17 patients were treated with 131I and 10 of them are alive, well and euthyroid five to eight years after the initial dose of 131I. The only death occurred in a patient who was also suffering from disseminated thyroid carcinoma. Therapy for thyrotoxicosis in developing African countries appears limited to surgery and antithyroid drugs at present. However, this report indicates that radioiodine is probably the most suitable and effective form of treatment for thyrotoxicosis in developing countries in Africa.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012807:Sierra Leone; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes