The use of antithyroid drugs in a single daily dose. Treatment of diffuse toxic goiter

Fifty thyrotoxic patients were treated with a single daily dose of thionamide derivative. Forty-eight were treated with propylthiouracil and two with methimazole. Of 41 patients in whom a euthyroid state was induced with the usual multiple daily dose plan, 28 continued in remission for the remainder of their treatment when given the same amount of medication as a single dose before breakfast. In two others in whom a single daily dose was tried, the remission was maintained only after the dose was increased. Of 11 patients whose remission could not be maintained with the single daily dose, three were successfully managed when an equivalent amount of medication was given in divided doses at eight-hour intervals. Nine patients whose hyperthyroidism was less severe were successfully managed when given a single daily dose of propylthiouracil throughout the entire treatment period.