OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and malignant tumors and the mortality rate in patients who received radioiodine treatment for hyperthyroidism due to Grave's disease with at least ten years of follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of all patients who were treated with I131 for Graves' disease at Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, were reviewed retrospectively, between January, 1981 and November, 1999. RESULTS: Data from 107 patients (14 men and 93 women), with median age of 54 years were analyzed. Comparing the group of patients who were treated with I131 therapy with a group of euthyroid patients post-treatment with antithyroid drugs, a significant increase in the occurrence of hypertension and dyslipidemia was observed, but not in mortality rate. CONCLUSION: To evaluate the real influence of the treatment with radioactive iodine in the occurrence of these comorbidities and the mortality rate, we need a longer follow-up. The age and time of exposure to the effects of hyperthyroidism seem to influence the occurrence of these comorbidities.
Radioiodine; hyperthyroidism; comorbidities; mortality
