[Current status of the treatment with thyroid hormones].

The main indication of thyroid hormone preparations is the treatment of hypothyroidism, ideally the goal of therapy is to restore the serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentration to a normal value. The optimal doses used to be stable, but several conditions may alter their requirements (reduced intestinal absorption, pregnancy,...). Levothyroxine therapy is also used in the benign nodular disease and after surgery in patients with thyroid cancer. The overtreatment with thyroxine and the problems related to bone mineral density seems of special importance.