Effectiveness of radioactive iodine (131I) in the treatment of Graves' disease: single center experience in Assiut University hospital.

To evaluate the effectiveness of radioactive iodine (131I) therapy in patients with Graves' disease (GD) in Assiut University Hospital. We retrospectively evaluated two hundred and seven patients with GD, after their therapy with 131I. Before therapy all the included patients underwent neck ultrasound, hormonal assay and 99mTechnetium-pertechntate (99mTc) thyroid scintigraphy to evaluate percentage uptake of the thyroid gland, after therapy all patients followed up clinically and laboratory every 3 months for at least one year to detect outcome; where euthyroid or hypothyroid status denotes successful therapy. Successful outcome obtained in 165/207 patients representing 79.7% of the study population while in the remaining 42 (20.3%) patients a second dose was required. In Univariate analysis only dose of 131I and previous thyroid surgery are the important factors (P value = 0.003 and 0.001 respectively). We concluded that 131I therapy is highly effective and cost-effective method for treatment of GD, higher doses are associated with higher success rate.