title: The significance of thyroid blood flow at the inferior thyroid artery as a predictor for early Graves' disease relapse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the clinical usefulness of thyroid blood-flow measurement in predicting relapse of Graves' disease (GD) in comparison with known risk factors for GD relapse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thyroid blood flow was measured in pulsed Doppler mode at the inferior thyroid artery (ITA), and the peak systolic velocity (PSV) calculated.
  
  
  METHODS
  ITA-PSV was measured in euthyroid GD patients (n = 79) immediately before withdrawal of anti-thyroid drug (ATD) and in healthy subjects (n = 17).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 79 euthyroid GD patients, the values of free triiodothyronine (FT3), TSH receptor autoantibody (TRAb), ITA-PSV and thyroid volume were significantly higher in the relapse group (n = 40) than in the nonrelapse group (n = 39) and the Youden index of ITA-PSV was significantly higher than that of FT3, TSH, TRAb and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ITA-PSV may assist in the prediction of early GD relapse after ATD withdrawal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Misako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Yasuro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kumeda
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagasaki
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiura
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tahara
authors.forename: Naoyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Onoda
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin / Q000276:immunology; D012008:Recurrence; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood; D018617:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D014284:Triiodothyronine