Evaluation of the Efficacy of Potassium Iodide Preparation for Radioactive Iodine Therapy in Graves’ Disease: A Retrospective Chart Review

Abstract

Background: Pretreatment by antithyroid drugs (ATDs) before radioactive iodine therapy (RAIT) for Graves' disease (GD) is often performed to avoid aggravation of thyroid function including thyroid storm. However, in patients suffering from adverse effects of ATDs, potassium iodide (KI) is often selected to treat hyperthyroidism before RAIT in Japan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of KI preparation for RAIT in GD and whether a short-term discontinuation of KI before RAIT is a safe and useful method in GD patients showing adverse effects from ATDs.

Radioiodine uptake after monotherapy with potassium iodide in patients with Graves’ disease

“…Regarding iodine restriction, it is common practice to follow a low-iodine diet (excluding seaweed and its processed products, with an inorganic iodine equivalent of 250-400 μg/day) for almost a week before results showed a significant difference in RAIU between the KI and MMI groups (29.9% vs. 62.9%; p = 0.002). However, Tachibana suggested that the 4 days of KI discontinuation before RIT may have contributed to the low RAIU in the KI group [10]. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of KI on RAIU before RIT in GD patients with appropriate iodine restriction.…”