Long-term maintenance of low-dose antithyroid drugs versus drug withdrawal in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism.

Objective: The relapse rate of Graves' hyperthyroidism after finishing an antithyroid cicle is high. The objective of this work was to prospectively investigate the relapse rate of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) in patients with maintenance of a low dose of antithyroid drug (ATD) therapy.

Patients And Method: From March 1997, all patients with GH consecutively attending the same center who remained euthyroid with low doses of synthetic ATD (carbimazole or methimazole: 2.