@Mickiko – I have not seen any studies that showed a remission rate as high as 70% for 18 months of ATD treatment, but if your doc has additional info on this, I would love to take a look!
@Bobbi – The latest guidance from the ATA and AACE indicates there is some predictive value of antibody testing when it comes to weaning off of Anti-Thyroid Drugs: “Measurement of TRAb levels prior to stopping antithyroid drug therapy is suggested, as it aids in predicting which patients can be weaned from the medication, with normal levels indicating greater chance for remission.” Also, this guidance notes that high antibody levels are a risk factor for worsening of the eye disease following RAI (along with smoking and high T3 levels). And many docs (although this is a subject of some contoversy) use antibody testing to determine when a patient with TED is entering the “cold” phase.
Certainly, the correlation isn’t perfect, as the wording is somewhat guarded: “…chance for remission…”, “…risk factors…”, etc. — but it is believed that there is some correlation between antibody levels, TED, and the possibility of remission.