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Thyroid Digest July 2002

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Recently Published Thyroid Research

This Thyroid Digest describing published research studies were prepared by Robert D. Utiger, M.D., from summaries of original research articles. The summaries were published in Clinical Thyroidology (Vol. 14, No. 2, 2002), a publication of the American Thyroid Association. Dr. Utiger is the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Thyroidology.

Thyroid Disease

  1. Unrecognized thyroid dysfunction is common in the general population
  2. Month-to-month variations in serum thyrotropin and thyroxine concentrations in normal subjects

Hyperthyroidism

  1. Hypofunctioning thyroid nodules in patients with hyperthyroidism may be thyroid carcinomas
  2. Sonography may be useful in evaluating patients with amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism
  3. Antithyroid drug therapy is effective in many patients with amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism
  4. Methimazole or carbimazole can cause liver dysfunction in patients with hyperthyroidism

Graves' Disease

  1. Limited benefit of topical glucocorticoid therapy in localized dermopathy of Graves' disease

Hypothyroidism

  1. Thyroxine alone may reverse hypertension in some patients with hypothyroidism
  2. Lack of benefit of thyroxine in patients with mild subclinical hypothyroidism
  3. Hypothyroidism caused by thalidomide in patients with multiple myeloma
  4. Risk of hip fracture is not increased in women treated with thyroxine
  5. Hypothyroid patients with severe kidney disease need less thyroxine after renal transplantation

Thyroid Surgery

  1. Screening for parathyroid tumors before thyroid surgery
  2. Most goiters that extend into the chest can be removed by standard thyroid surgery procedures

Congenital Hypothyroidism

  1. Breast milk contains too little thyroid hormone to raise plasma thyroid hormone concentrations in preterm infants

Nodular Goiter

  1. Many patients with pituitary tumors that secrete growth hormone have thyroid disease
  2. Radioiodine therapy may induce thyrotropin receptor antibodies in patients with toxic nodular goiter

Thyroid Cancer

  1. Radioiodine scans have limited value in thyroid-cancer patients with undetectable serum thyroglobulin values
  2. Treatment with radioiodine does not decrease fertility in women with thyroid cancer
  3. Surgical resection of bone metastases may be beneficial in patients with thyroid cancer
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