Early complications of radioiodine treatment for hyperthyroidism.

Three patients were described with undesirable early complications of low dose radioiodine treatment for hyperthyroidism. The first patient with Graves' disease developed an extreme and permanent hypothyroidism within only few months after receiving this therapy. The second patient with a hyperactive nodular goiter and mild hyperthyroidism had an immediate important exacerbation of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism shortly after a low dose treatment. In the third patient with Graves' disease but without preexisting eye disease a therapy-resistant endocrine ophthalmopathy occurred two months after radioiodine administration.