[Evaluation of reliable pituitary suppression therapy through varying thyroid hormone dosage following total...

The reliability of pituitary suppression by administration of 1-thyroxin (t4) or a combination of thyroxin and triiodothyronin (t3) of variable dosage following radical surgery for thyroid cancer in 13 patients was investigated by means of TRH-test and measurement of serum hormone levels. In contrary to generally applied higher doses the results were able to demonstrate that 0.2 to 0.3 mg 1-thyroxin is a sufficient dosage for a complete suppression of TSH-stimulation. In the presence of obviously more side effects the treatment with a combination of t4 and t3 is not of any advantage.