Treatment of the Autonomous „Hot“ Nodule of the Thyroid with 131I
SummaryThirty-four women with single autonomous “hot” nodules of the thyroid were treated with 131I. There was a variable degree of thyrotoxicosis in 26 cases while in 3 others there was only local cervical discomfort. The total amount administered varied between 2 and 80 mCi of 131I and the radiation dose to the thyroid from 2 to 450 krads. The nodule and symptoms disappeared in 14 of the patients, while in the other 14 the lesion decreased in size and the clinical manifestations improved. Only in six patients was the result unsatisfactory, without change in the size of the nodule. Results are analysed on the basis of the quantity of radioiodine administered.Modifications of the scintigram before and after treatment are discussed, observing that the “cooling” of the nodule and the reappearance of the surrounding gland are signs of good prognosis.A case is described in which the therapy failed and a thyroid carcinoma was found after surgical resection. Two cases of the series in which there were slight transitory manifestations of post-therapeutic hypothyroidism are also reported.