Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Kidney marker changes in hyperthyroid cats after radioactive iodine
By DeMonaco, Stefanie M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2020·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Symmetric dimethylarginine in hyperthyroid cats before and after treatment with radioactive iodine.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of hyperthyroid cats were tested for a substance called symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) before and after they received radioactive iodine treatment. While only a small number had high SDMA levels before treatment, more cats showed increased levels at one, three, and six months after treatment. This increase in SDMA may indicate changes in kidney function, as some cats developed elevated creatinine levels, which is a sign of kidney issues. The study suggests that while high SDMA levels before treatment can indicate potential kidney problems later, it isn't very reliable for predicting which cats will develop these issues.
People also search for: hyperthyroid cat treatment radioactive iodine · cat kidney problems after hyperthyroid treatment · SDMA levels in cats
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) in hyperthyroid cats before and after treatment with radioactive iodine and to determine how pretreatment SDMA relates to the development of post-treatment azotemia. METHODS: Eighty-four non-azotemic hyperthyroid cats had serum SDMA and creatinine evaluated before and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment with radioiodine therapy. RESULTS: Baseline SDMA was increased in 7% (n = 6/84) of cats, whereas SDMA was increased in 19% (n = 15/81), 20% (n = 16/80) and 32% (n = 26/81) at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after treatment, respectively. Creatinine was not elevated in any of the cats at baseline because of the study design, and was elevated in 6% (n = 5/81), 15% (n = 12/80) and 15% (n = 12/81) of cats at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment, respectively. SDMA (median 11 μg/dl, range 1-22 μg/dl) was significantly higher at 3 (12 μg/dl, range 6-45 μg/dl;= 0.005) and 6 months (11 μg/dl, 6-25 μg/dl;<0.001) compared with baseline (11 μg /dl, range 1-21 μg/dl). The median baseline SDMA was significantly higher in the azotemic group (13 μg/dl, range 11-22 μg/dl) compared with the non-azotemic group (10 μg/dl, range 1-21 μg/dl,= 0.002). The sensitivity of SDMA for detecting azotemia after treatment was 15.4%, with a specificity of 94.4%. Baseline serum SDMA concentration had a moderately positive association with baseline creatinine concentration (<0.001,= 0.437). At 6 months, there was a strong positive correlation between SDMA and creatinine concentrations (<0.001,= 0.721). There was no significant correlation with SDMA and thyroxine at baseline (= 0.772,= -0.034) or 6 months (= 0.492,= -0.078). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: SDMA increases in cats treated for hyperthyroidism with radioactive iodine and likely reflects associated changes in glomerular filtration rate. An increased SDMA concentration above the reference interval prior to treatment has a high specificity but poor sensitivity for the prediction of post-treatment azotemia.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31290362/