Diagnosis and treatment of hyperthyroidism in elderly patients.

The clinical signs of hyperthyroidism in the elderly are often atypical and have an insidious onset. The hyperkinetic form and the exophthalmic syndrome are rare. Apathetic thyreotoxicosis occurs, with few exceptions, in the elderly. Part of the clinical signs of hyperthyroidism may be erroneously attributed to the normal aging process. Most authors consider radioiodine as the treatment of choice in elderly hyperthyroid patient.