Changes in plasma-calcium concentration following subtotal thyroidectomy

✍ Scribed by H. T. John; M. R. Wills; R. T. Marcus

• Book ID: 101737498
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1966
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 379 KB
• Volume: 53
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-1323
• DOI: 10.1002/bjs.1800530809

✦ Synopsis

PLASMA-CALCIUM VALUES AFTER THYROIDECTOMY 685 short course of goitrogen in Case 2, and fairly severe auto-immune thyroiditis in Case 3.

CONCLUSION

In the light of our findings and the above discussion we suggest that the adult human thyroid is susceptible to the carcinogenic action of comparatively small doses of therapeutic irradiation when the gland undergoes subsequent hyperplasia. We further suggest that, when primary hyperthyroidism occurs in a patient known to have had previous irradiation to the lower neck, treatment with antithyroid drugs should be avoided, unless covered with thyroxine in order to prevent increased thyrotrophic hormone (T. S.H.) secretion. Maintenance on thyroxine would equally be recommended if subtotal thyroidectomy or therapy were alternative treatments chosen, but the production of the longacting thyroid stimulator that occurs in untreated or treated primary hyperthyroidism (Adams, 1965) will continue for a long time, possibly years, in spite of thyroxine treatment. The risk of malignant change in the thyroid could be totally eliminated by complete ablation of the thyroid with radioactive iodine.