[Impact of adjuvant therapy with lithium carbonate on the results of radioiodine treatment in patients with diffuse toxic goiter].

Thirty-eight patients with diffuse toxic goiter (Graves' disease) were treated with radioiodine. Before 131I therapy thyrotoxicosis compensation was achieved by antithyroid medication in all the patients. Antithyroid medication was discontinued 10 days before radioiodine treatment. After its withdrawal, the use of lithium carbonate successfully prevented the development of thyrotoxicosis before 131I therapy. The administration of the agent caused a reduction in the proportion of patients with thyrotoxicosis 1.5 months after 131I therapy. Lithium carbonate used 10 days before and 4 days after 131Itherapy exerted the most considerable effect, by reducing the volume of the thyroid gland. By month 3, hypothyroidism more promptly developed in lithium carbonate-untreated patients; by month 6, the rate of different treatment outcomes (hypothyroidism, euthyroidism, or thyrotoxicosis) did not virtually depend on any lithium carbonate treatment regiment.

[Efficiency of treatment for diffuse toxic goiter in relation to the estimated therapeutic activity of radioactive iodine].

Forty-eight patients with diffuse toxic goiter (Graves's disease) were treated with radioactive iodine in a dose of 5.3-30.0 mCi. A special formula considering the volume of the thyroid and post-24-hour capture of the diagnostic activity of radioactive iodine was used to calculate the optimum therapeutic activity. As a result, specific therapeutic activity (STA) correlated with specific activity and with the volume of thyroid. The high rate (33.3%) of recurrent thyrotoxicosis was observed when the calculated STA was less than 0 3 mCi/ml and reduced to 11.1% if a greater activity was applied. The use of the standard activity of radioactive iodine (10mCi) with a thyroid volume of up to 40 ml, as compared to that calculated by the formula results in the similar rate of ineffective radioiodine therapy for thyrotoxicosis at a lower incidence of euthyrosis.

[Efficiency of radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer metastasizing to the mediastinum and lung].

Thyroid cancer (ТС) accounts for 0.4-2% of all malignancies. The lung is a more frequent site of distant metastases. The use of 131I is prominent in the treatment of distant TC metastases. The Department of Radiosurgical Treatment with Open Radionuclides, Medical Radiology Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, made a retrospective analysis of the results of radioiodine therapy (RIT) in 126 adult patients with TC metastasizing to the lung and mediastinum. The treatment was performed after thyroidectomy when levothyroxine was discontinued. Repeated courses of RIT with an activity of 1-1.5 mCu of 131I per kg body weight were performed at an interval of 3-6 months. Analysis of the findings showed the high efficiency of RIT in patients with differentiated TC metastasizing to the lung and mediastinum. Five- and ten-year survival rates were 95.1 and 79.3%, respectively. A complete effect could be achieved in 66 (71.7%) patients. The high efficiency of RIT was observed in patients with TC with metastases to the mediastinum, with X-ray-negative and small-focal metastases to the lung, with the high accumulation of radiopharmaceuticals in the metastatic foci and in those with a thyroid-stimulating hormone level of more than 30mU/L.