Radioactive Iodine Treatment of a Functional Thyroid Carcinoma Producing Hyperthyroidism in a Dog

Radioactive iodine (131I) was used in the treatment of a 12-year-old female dog with hyperthyroidism resulting from a large, unresectable (and metastatic) thyroid carcinoma associated with signs of severe inspiratory stridor and dyspnea. Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed on the basis of clinical signs (polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, weight loss, nervousness) and high basal serum thyroxine (T4) concentrations, as well as thyroid radioiodine kinetic studies that showed a high radioiodine uptake into the thyroid (% thyroid uptake) and markedly increased serum concentrations of protein-bound iodine-131 (PB131I) after 131I tracer injection. Thyroid imaging revealed diffuse radionuclide accumulation by the tumor, which involved both thyroid lobes. The dog was treated with three large doses of radioiodine (131I), ranging from 60 to 75 mCi, given at intervals of 5 to 7 months. The dog became euthyroid, and the size of the tumor decreased by approximately 25% after each 131I treatment, improving the severe inspiratory stridor and dyspnea, but both the hyperthyroid state and breathing difficulty recurred within a few months of each treatment. The dog was euthanatized 5 months after the last treatment because of progressive tracheal compression and pulmonary metastasis.