Re: Re: Partial thyroidectomy

[Guest guest]

Hi Bonner,

Yep, that's the logic behind a thyroidectomy, removing thyroid tissue because

each of those little follicular cells in the tissue is what makes the

hormone. Other parts of your body also make thyroid hormone, including

skeletal muscle and anywhere where iodine is absorbed. From Samter's

Immunologic Diseases, " Subtotal thyroidectomy, leaving 2 to 3 gm of thyroid

remnant on either lobe, is the procedure of choice. T4 replacement therapy is

often required after subtotal thyroidectomy as the incidence of

hypothyroidism at 10 years follow-up is 30 to 40%. "

The pretreatment used before surgery has a lot to do with how the cells are

affected when cut. Iodine facilitates cutting and changes the height of these

long tall follicular cells.

From Clinical Textbook of Endocrinology: " Hence the aim of

preoperative management is to restore the metabolic state to normal with

antithyroid agents and then to induce involution of the gland with iodine. "

I suspect the reason behind your continued hyperness has to do with your

antibody levels. " Pretreatment TSAb levels were significantly higher in

patients with persistent hyperthyroidism than in those becoming hypothyroid. "

[Guest guest]

Hi Mona,

They used to think the thyroid " burned itself out " because so many GD

patients on their own do go hypo. Now they know that, many of us eventually

begin forming blocking TSH receptor antibodies and become hypothyroid, or we

may go into thyroid failure, which is the " burned out " they used to call it.

Now it's known that patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders can have GD,

Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and autoimmune thyroid failure (primary myxedema)

all at different times in one lifetime. However, only 14% of patients treated

with ATD's end up hypothyroid.