Graves' Disease in the Male

This report encompasses a 20-year study of 241 male patients with Graves' disease. All patients received a therapeutic dose of sodium iodide I 131 calculated from the 24-hour thyroid uptake, the effective half-life of the retained131I tracer dose, and the gland weight. The gland weight was determined by an empirical weight formula from the thyroid scintigram. Forty-five percent of the total patient group and 74% of the Negro patients required multiple doses. Patients who required multiple doses had more severe laboratory abnormalities and lost more weight. These patients also became hypothyroid later and ultimately had a higher incidence of hypothyroidism than patients who received single doses. The mean incidence of hypothyroidism for the entire series was 27.8%. The actual number of millicuries of131I required to deliver the therapeutic dose had little or no relation to the ultimate therapeutic effect.