FOR a number of years the blood iodine has proved a valuable adjunct in evaluating the disturbed activity of the patient's thyroid gland. This is especially true since the advent of protein-bound blood iodine determinations (1, 2). Despite its clinical significance, however, its use has been largely limited to the research laboratory owing to difficulties inherent within the various methods. As a consequence we have attempted to utilize and apply an extensive simplification in devising a method which would permit of more widespread use of blood iodine determinations. This method is simplified, chemically accurate, and has shown good clinical correlations. Protein-bound blood iodine determinations are particularly helpful in indicating when hypermetabolism or hypometabolism is not of thyroid origin. Conversely there may be hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism which is not associated with corresponding deviations in the basal metabolic rate. In these, the protein-bound blood iodine1 becomes a valuable aid in arriving at the clinical diagnosis. In addition, blood iodine determinations are of value in following the different types of thyroid patients through their indicated therapy. We have employed them extensively for this purpose.
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Connor et al. (1949) studied this question.