Prospective randomized comparison of propylthiouracil

Abstract

Patients [49] with Graves''s disease were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group received propylthiouracil, 150 mg every 8 h, and the other group reveived propylthiouracil, 450 mg as a single daily dose. All patients'' conditions were evaluated clinically and chemically at 2 wk intervals. The response to the divided dosage schedule was prompt and predictable and by 10 wk all but 1 patient had achieved remission. The group that received the single daily dose regimen responded less favorably, and at 10 wk 10 patients had failed to achieve remission (P < .001). When these patients'' regimens were switched to the every 8 h schedule, all but 1 patient became euthyroid in an additional 4 wk.