Kinuya Seigo, Yokoyama Kunihiko, Michigishi Takatoshi, Tonami Norihisa
Department of Biotracer Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Ishikawa, Japan.
Ann Nucl Med. 2006 Aug;20(7):499-502. doi: 10.1007/BF02987260.
Respiratory distress accompanied by stridor is an uncommon complication of 131I radioiodine therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer that occurs within 48 hours of treatment. This report presents three cases with papillary thyroid carcinoma in which 131I therapy caused this acute complication. One of them had no apparent risk for this complication such as the existence of remnant thyroid tissue or laryngeal problems before the treatment. These cases remind physicians that 131I therapy is not a simple, riskless procedure.
