LATE RESULTS FROM CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF THYROTOXICOSIS WITH METHYLTHIOURACIL

Abstract

244 unselected patients with thyrotoxicosis were treated with methylthiouracil only, in doses decreasing from 250 mg. daily to 125 mg. twice weekly, for maintenance. The avg. duration of treatment was 11.8 mos. In 44 patients, the treatment was given up for various reasons[long dash]in 25, because of hypersen-sitiveness. However, there were no instances of granulocytosis, In 144 patients in whom the treatment period varied from 6-60 mos., the results of follow-up examination were as follows: 78% were perfectly well, 18% were improved (with some persistent symptoms), and 4% showed a recurrence of the disease. In the total of 169 cases which form the basis of this study, there was a false recurrence (relapse) in 18.3% and a true recurrence in 25.5%. On the whole, the persistent and recurrent cases were mild and soon responsive to small maintenance doses of methylthiouracil. The final results were just as good as in nonrecurrent cases. The high frequency of recurrence was found to be partly due to toxic nodular goiter. When these cases were omitted from the material, the frequency of true recurrence in toxic diffuse goiter was 11.9%.