title: Maintenance requirements of L-thyroxine in the treatment of hypothyroidism.
abstract: By analyzing data from 68 hypothyroid patients ranging in age from 15 to 75 years who had been maintained in a euthyroid state for at least a year with oral levothyroxine sodium therapy, we attempted to determine whether there was a correlation between L-thyroxine dose and body weight or patient age. The mean replacement dose of L-thyroxine was 186 mug a day +/-69.6 or 2.76 mug per kg of body weight a day +/-0.82. There was a significant correlation between L-thyroxine dose and body weight (P<.001), but due to the small number of patients studied who were older than 65 years of age, no correlation was noted between L-thyroxine dose and age.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Kehoe
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Greenspan