Similar effectiveness and cure rates were observed in patients pretreated withmethimazole compared to non-pretreated patients in two of the studies included inour meta-analysis.21,24 However, Burch et al.23 had the opinion that most patients with Graves’ disease should not bepretreated with anti-thyroid drugs before receiving radioiodine, as pretreatmentwith methimazole results in a rapid increase in thyroid hormone levels upondiscontinuation of these medications in preparation for radioiodine therapy. This evidence concerns the gene TG and thyroiditis.