Procedure Radioiodine therapy
No special preparation is often required in the run-up to radioiodine therapy. For certain indications, however, a 4-week intake of thyroid hormone preparations is usually required in advance. This so-called suppression treatment feigns excessive hormone production in the body and thus reduces the thyroid control hormone (TSH).
This in turn leads to the iodine uptake of the healthy thyroid tissue being reduced. Thyroid cells with a pathologically increased hormone production are no longer under the influence of TSH. With radioiodine therapy, only the autonomous thyroid glands with their uninhibited function then absorb the radioactive iodine.
Healthy cells are largely spared from radiation at an appropriate dose. In Germany, radioiodine therapy may only be carried out under inpatient conditions. This means that one is admitted to a special nuclear medicine ward in hospital for a few days.
These wards are equipped with special radiation protection devices, such as waste water facilities or doors reinforced with lead. Otherwise, these are normal patient rooms and not bunkers or lead chambers, as is sometimes claimed. The actual therapy begins when the patient is administered the radioactive iodine as an active substance, usually in the form of a tablet to be swallowed.
Afterwards the patient can retire to his room.The body absorbs the radioactive iodine through the intestines and then passes into the blood. Through the circulation it is first distributed throughout the body. The radioactive iodine is stored almost exclusively by the thyroid gland.
Excess iodine is excreted through the kidneys in the urine and thus leaves the human organism. In order not to endanger fellow human beings, especially pregnant women and children, by the radiation, patients are not allowed to leave the ward or receive visitors until the radiation has abated. This is measured daily and often drops off after 2 days, but rarely after a maximum of 12 days, until the patient can be discharged. After the therapy, a blood check of the thyroid gland values must be carried out at regular intervals. After about 6 months, a scintigraphy, i.e. a measurement of the thyroid metabolism, is performed to assess whether the radioiodine therapy was successful.
