Treatment of Graves' Disease

Several forms of therapy are available for the treatment of hyperthyroidism, and judicious use of each is usually accompanied by gratifying relief of symptoms and restoration of the euthyroid state. What factors should be considered in the selection of therapy for an individual patient with hyperthyroidism?The first is its cause. In the vast majority of patients, hyperthyroidism is due to Graves' disease. Other causes include thyroid adenoma, multinodular goiter, subacute thyroiditis, excessive production of thyrotropin from the pituitary or thyrotropin-like substances by chorionic tumors and exogenous thyroid hormone administration, whether factitious or iatrogenic. Differentiating among them is not academic; . . .