Fractionated radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism caused by widespread metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma.

摘要

It is very rare that metastatic thyroid cancer presents thyro-toxicosis after total thyroidectomy. Possible mechanisms of its thyrotoxicosis are as follows: (a) the presence of anti-TSH receptor antibodies complicated with Graves' disease, (b) destructive thyroiditis caused by the growing tumor, (c) the increased conversion of exogenous levothyroxine (1-T4) to T3 by the tumor tissue (1), and (d) excessive thyroid hormone synthesis in the metastatic lesions. In the case of (d), approximately 70 cases have been reported in the literature, and almost all patients histologically showed thyroid follicular carcinoma with massive metastatic lesions.