[Management of hyperthyroidism with radioactive iodine in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing dialysis]

Although, the abnormal thyroid hormone production and metabolism are relatively common, hyperthyroidism is a very unusual condition. The diagnosis may be difficult because of similar signs and symptoms as in uremia. To our knowledge till now only 18 well documented cases have been reported, 8 of them successfully treated with radioactive iodine. We report here the results of radioiodine treatment, performed in 6 patients, 5 with toxic multinodular goiter and one with Graves' disease. Three patients were initially treated with antithyroid drugs, but they were discontinued 20 days before radioiodine treatment. A progressive fall of the thyroid function tests was observed. Of 6 treated patients 3 became euthyroid and 3 developed hypothyroidism.