New Guidelines On Use Of Radioiodine

Main Category: Endocrinology
Article Date: 29 Jul 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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The Royal College of Physicians has updated its guidelines on the use of radioiodine in the management of benign thyroid disease. Since the last guidelines were published in 1995, there have been several developments in this clinical area:

-- Changes to the legislation covering the administration of radioiodine

-- Research leading to a better understanding of the way radioiodine should be used in patients with thyroid eye disease

-- The need for clinical guidelines to be evidence-based where available and for graded evidence

Radioiodine has been used for over 60 years to treat patients with hyperthyroidism, a medical condition in which the thyroid gland in the neck produces too much thyroxine, a hormone that regulates the heart rate, bowel activity, skin and organs. Hyperthyroidism is a symptom of Graves' disease, toxic nodular goitre and toxic adenoma, and affects roughly 1 in 200 people in the UK. The new guidelines have been extended to consider the use of radioiodine in subclinical hyperthyroidism and non-toxic goitre.

Provided the guidelines and legislation are followed, radioiodine is a very safe and effective treatment. 'Radioiodine in the management of benign thyroid disease' covers the following areas:

-- Overview of radioiodine therapy, including choice of appropriate treatment, safety and the relatively high cost-effectiveness of the therapy in improving quality of life

-- Administration of radioiodine relating to the Ionising (Medical Exposure) Radiation Regulations 2000 (IRMER), recommended dose levels, contraindications, and patient information and consent

-- Management, monitoring and follow-up of the patient during and after the first year of treatment, with an emphasis on good communication between specialist, GP and patient

Non-copyright samples of a consent form and patient leaflet are included and can be photocopied for use in the hospital.

Professor Tony Weetman, Chair of the working party and Dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Sheffield, said:

"These new guidelines will be useful to all who deal with the common problem of hyperthyroidism, including general practitioners who deal with long term follow-up, and have been written to, to ensure that current best practice is clearly set out".

Royal College of Physicians