RADIOACTIVE IODINE IN THE STUDY OF THYROID PHYSIOLOGY

Abstract

In previously published experiments of this series¹radioactive iodine was used as an indicator in the study of animal and human thyroid physiology and iodine metabolism. Much of this preliminary work was done with a view to the discovery of the conditions under which radioactive iodine might be administered with maximum radiational effect in the pathologic thyroid of patients ill with hyperthyroidism. The present paper is a progress report on our early experiences (1941-1946) with such "internal irradiation" in the treatment of 29 cases of hyperthyroidism. It is, indeed, a three to five year follow-up report on these cases. PROCEDURE Patients were selected who had had no previous iodine treatment and who were judged clinically to have hyperthyroidism. The usual clinical tests were made and the patients were presented to the Thyroid Clinic of the Massachusetts General Hospital for discussion and determination of their suitability for this type of