Abstract:
Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of Graves' hyperthyroidism in patients with anemia and evaluate the efficacy of 131I treatment.
Methods A total of 164 patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism (32 males and 132 females; aged 45.47±13.44 years) who underwent 131I treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC from January 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively studied. They were divided into the anemia group (n=77) and general group (n=87) according to patients with or without anemia. The severity of anemia and cytological classification in the anemia group were analyzed. Changes in hemoglobin concentration after 131I treatment, clinical features, and the efficacy of 131I treatment were analyzed and compared between groups. The measurement data were compared using two independent sample t-test, and the counting data were compared using chi-square test.
Results In the anemia group, mild anemia and moderate anemia accounted for 92.21% (71/77) and 7.79% (6/77) of the cases, respectively. Normocytic anemia, microcytic hypochromic anemia, and macrocytic anemia accounted for 57.14% (44/77), 41.56% (32/77), and 1.30% (1/77), respectively. Two to four weeks after 131I treatment, the hemoglobin recovery rate in the anemia group was 67.53% (52/77), and the hemoglobin concentrations in both groups significantly increased anemia group: (104.19±10.56) g/L vs. (120.90±16.20) g/L, general group: (126.28±10.09) g/L vs. (137.84±10.41) g/L; t=−12.40, −12.57, both P<0.05. No statistically significant differences in age, sex ratio, thyroid weight, 131I dose, and 131I dose per gram of thyroid tissue were found between the groups (t or χ2=0.06, 0.00, 0.30, −0.62, −0.04, respectively, all P>0.05). The total curative rate for hyperthyroidism was 87.20% (143/164), the curative rate in the anemia and general groups were 87.01% (67/77) and 87.36% (76/87), respectively. No statistically significant difference in the efficacy of 131I treatment was found between the groups (χ2=0.00, P>0.05).
Conclusions Mild normocytic anemia was more common in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism and anemia, and the efficacy of 131I treatment for these patients was similar to that for patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism but without anemia. The hemoglobin concentration of most patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism and anemia returned to normal immediately after 131I treatment.