Thesis (doctoral)--Rotterdam, 1983.

Thesis (doctoral)--Amsterdam, 1981.

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met een samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht.

Background: Although radioactive iodine 131 (RAI) has been successfully used in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients therapy for more than 70 years, thus far published data regarding RAI- induced salivary glands functional impairment have been inconsistent. Due to the trend towards using lower activities or even RRA omission, the possible RAI untoward effects have been widely discussed. Aim: To evaluate and quantify salivary gland function in thyroidectomised DTC patients before and after RRA using activity of 3.7 GBq and to compare salivary gland functional changes in DTC patients after single or repeated RAI treatment (using activities  5.5 GBq) with their age- and sex-matched RAI-naive counterparts using salivary gland scintigraphy with 99m Tc- pertechnetate. In addition, we performed subjective symptoms evaluation. Patients and Methods: Salivary gland scintigraphy (SGS) was performed in 31 RAI-naive patients (6 men, 25 women, median age 52 years) before and 4.6 months after RRA. Salivary gland function was measured also in 23 patients (7 men, 16 women, median age 60 years) with RAI administration history and compared with their age- and sex-matched counterparts. Non-parametric Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests were used (due to non-normal data distribution) for statistical analysis. A p...