Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to evaluate radioiodine (RAI) treatment efficacy in geriatric patients with hyperthyroidism.

Design: Patients older than 65 years who received RAI treatment were included via retrospective data analyses. Eighty-two patients with hyperthyroidism (average age: 69.9 years, age range: 64–81 years) who received RAI treatment and then followed up for at least 6 months were included in the study. Patients’ clinical and laboratory results were analysed retrospectively. Euthyroid or hypothyroid status at the end of the year after treatment was deemed to be a response to treatment.

Results: Nineteen patients were men (average age: 68.3 years, age range: 64–75 years), the 63 were women (average age: 71.3 years, age range: 65–81 years). According to thyroid ultrasound or physical examination findings, 13 patients had diffuse thyroid hyperplasia, the other patients had non diffuse hyperplasia (nodular or multinodular). RAI treatment was given to the patients once or twice, or three times if necessary. In first RAI treatment, average 12.7 mCi, in second, average 15.1 mCi, and in third, average 20.7 mCi were given orally. 41 (50%) patients were euthyroid, 19 (23.1%) were hypothyroid, and 22 (26.9%) were thyrotoxic. Success rate of RAI treatment was 73.1%. The highest success rate was obtained in geriatric patients who have diffuse thyroid hyperplasia. Serious side-effects were not observed in our patients.

Conclusion: We observed approximately similar success rates with the reported results in RAI treatment of geriatric patients with hyperthyroidism and also side effects of RAI treatment were low. We believe that RAI treatment should be first choice for treatment of hyperthyroidism in geriatric patients, because it is easy to perform and its side effects are very low.