Impact of Minimal Dose Strategy Before Antithyroid Drug Discontinuation on Relapse Risk in Graves’ Disease
An erratum to this article was published (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 17 Mar 2026 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
Lower minimum maintenance doses of MMI before discontinuation, particularly doses <2.5 mg/day, may be associated with a reduced risk of relapse in patients with Graves' disease. Clinicians should recognize the clinical relevance of the minimum maintenance dose in the treatment of Graves' disease.
Study context
- Population
- Patients newly diagnosed with GD (2008–2024) who discontinued MMI after a minimal maintenance dose (≤2.5 mg/day), thyroid specialty hospital in Japan
- Participants
- 4,352 eligible patients
- Exposure
- Final minimal MMI maintenance dose before discontinuation: 1.25 mg/day and <1.25 mg/day vs 2.5 mg/day
- Outcome
- Relapse
- Follow-up
- Within 1 year
Methodological detailssingle-centre, multivariable regression, propensity score-matched analysis
- Single-centre
- Multivariable regression
- Propensity score-matched analysis
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Relapse within 1 year
Each group vs 2.5 mg/dayRelative risk (95% CI)
1.25 mg/daymultivariable regression
0.46(0.28–0.75)
<1.25 mg/daymultivariable regression; lowest risk
0.18(0.05–0.73)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | RR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Relapse within 1 year, propensity score-matched analysis1.25 mg/dayvs 2.5 mg/day172 matched pairs · propensity score-matched | 0.44 (0.23–0.85) | |
| 0.20.5125Relative risk (log scale) |
Original publication
Impact of Minimal Dose Strategy Before Antithyroid Drug Discontinuation on Relapse Risk in Graves’ Disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 1 August 2025. doi:10.
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