Follow-Up Studies of Lithium and Thyroid Function in Manic-Depressive Illness
RONALD R. FIEVE M.D.1, and
STANLEY R. PLATMAN M.D.2
1 Chief of psychiatric research, internal medicine, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York, N. Y. 10032
2 Associate research scientist, department of internal medicine, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York, N. Y. 10032
In an earlier study the authors reported that six out of 19 manic-depressive patients treated with lithium showed evidence of goiter, suggesting that lithium may have goitrogenic properties. They now report the finding of a similar incidence of goiter among 13 patients treated with imipramine. They conclude that three explanations are possible: the incidence of goiter among the general population might be equally high if EAI scanning instead of palpation were used routinely; the incidence of goiter detected among the two groups of patients studied may be a result of various drug treatments, periodic hospitalizations, and dietary insufficiencies; or it may be related to some characteristic of manic-depressive disease.
