Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To evaluate the outcomes of radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) in benign thyroid disease following implementation of 2007 Royal College of Physicians (RCP) guidelines in a large NHS foundation trust.

Method: The medical records of patients referred for RAI therapy at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (UK) between 2013 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient data was collected from patients’ notes and electronic documents system. The data recorded included pre-treatment patient characteristics, RAI activity dose and patient outcomes for a 1-year period.

Results: Data was analysed from 194 patients who received RAI therapy for Graves’ disease (n = 144), toxic multinodular goitre (n = 38) and toxic adenoma (n = 13). 95% of patients received treatment activity within RCP guidance range, the remainder being adjusted for specific clinical reasons. At 1 year, 71.6% were hypothyroid, 21.2% were euthyroid and 7.2% remained hyperthyroid, resulting in a cure rate of 92.8%. Cure rate for Graves’ disease was 94.4% (n = 144), toxic multinodular goitre 82.9% (n = 35) and toxic adenoma 100% (n = 13). For patients rendered hypothyroid, 83.4% occurred within 18 weeks of treatment, and 91% within 6 months. 2% of patients developed thyroid eye disease after RAI treatment.

Conclusion: The implementation of RCP guidelines on radioactive iodine therapy resulted in effective and safe treatment of benign thyroid disease. The majority of patients treated with these guidelines were hypothyroid at 1-year post-treatment.