Remission in children with hyperthyroidism treated with propylthiouracil. Long-term results
C. Gorton, A. Sadeghi-Nejad and B. Senior
We treated 69 hyperthyroid children with propylthiouracil, of whom 53
remained under surveillance. Of these children, 34 (64%) had an initial
remission, but relapses were frequent (47%). At this writing, 24 patients
(45%) were in remission, with a mean duration of remission of 55 months
(range, ten to 132 months). We found that the triiodothyronine level took
significantly longer than the thyroxine (T4) level to return to normal.
Thus, based on the T4 level alone, treatment may have been stopped
prematurely in some patients, causing the relapse rate to be falsely high.
The response to therapy did not depend on the size of the goiter nor on the
initial levels of T4 or triiodothyronine. Six patients had adverse
reactions, which were serious in two patients.
