Indications, procedures and results in the surgical treatment of hyperthyroidism: a follow-up of 336 cases.

A personal experience with the surgical treatment of hyperfunctioning thyroid diseases from 1970 throughout 1982 is reported. Data on 336 controlled cases are analyzed. The series reported is homogeneous as for indications, surgical procedures, pre and postoperative management. Total lobectomy has proved to be the therapy of choice for uninodular lesions: all followed patients (208) are euthyroid. Subtotal or "near-total" thyroidectomy was curative in 71,8% of multinodular and basedowified goiters, as well as in Graves' disease. For the latter, indications of total thyroidectomy in selected cases are being evaluated. Further studies to complete the follow-up of the series are in progress.