Can a patient with normal thyroid gland iodine 123 uptake still have Graves disease?
The iodine uptake refers to the activity of the gland and not to whether the patient is hyperthyroid. Although a patient may have normal scan results and uptake values, if the thyroid function tests indicate that the patient is hyperthyroid, then a normal iodine uptake is still too high. A hyperthyroid patient should have a gland that is almost completely shut down. An uptake of 20% to 30% is too high if a patient is hyperthyroid with an undetectable thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level. In such a setting, a patient with normal scan results can still have Graves’ disease.
