Thyroid Diseases after Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease

A VARIETY of thyroid diseases have been found in patients treated for Hodgkin's disease; among them, hypothyroidism is the most common. Hypothyroidism was first recognized as a complication of external irradiation of the neck for Graves' disease in 1929 and was first reported in 1965 in patients who were euthyroid before neck irradiation. 1 2 3 4 A high incidence of hypothyroidism was reported from our institution in 1971 among patients treated for lymphoma, a finding confirmed by other investigators. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Iodinated radiographic contrast agents may or may not contribute to the risk of hypothyroidism, and the effect of chemotherapy has not been determined. Graves' . . .