In this study, patients are prospectively followed after radioiodine treatment to assess the relationship between thyroid status and their quality of life after thyroid ablative treatment. A third treatment arm after surgery has been stopped, as deemed currently not feasible to achieve its target.
Patients are frequently dissatisfied with LT4 replacement treatment. The reasons for persisting patient complaints are poorly understood. Conversion efficiency and impaired T3/T4 ratios in athyreotic patients may play a major role. We hypothesised that the extent of ablation either by surgery or radioiodine treatment may result in biochemical disequilibria between FT3, FT4 and TSH and those may be, in turn, associated with persisting symptomatology. The study follows patients after radioiodine therapy as well as a control group over half a year, assessing thyroid status, set points, conversion rates, thyroid volume, LT4 administration and dosing, demographic characteristics and quality of life measures. The treatment mode is not part of the study, and determined by criteria and procedures of best standard care. For that reason, a randomised or blinded design is not possible. Changes and interrelationships between thyroid parameters and QoL measures are analysed within-subjects and between treatment groups.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
101
thyroid hormone replacement
Department of Nuclear Medicine Klinikum Luedenscheid
Lüdenscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
ThyPRO Scale Scores (0-100, Higher Scores Indicating Worse Quality of Life)
quality of life measured by a thyroid specific validated questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Rate of Global Deiodinase Activity (SPINA-GD, See Reference Calculated Parameters)
efficiency of converting T4 into T3
Time frame: 6 months
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