Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association
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Thyrotropin (TSH) stimulates thyrocyte metabolism, glucose transport, and glycolysis. The interest in using recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) stimulation of fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) with positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown, but mainly for patients with high serum thyroglobulin (Tg) concentration. We evaluated the use of rhTSH-stimulated PET-FDG in patients with low serum Tg concentration. ⋯ In the diagnosis of recurrent disease in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma and low Tg level, the sensitivity of rhTSH-stimulated PET/CT-FDG seems to be low and no correlation was observed between PET/CT-FDG findings and Tg level. However, positive PET-FDG results have been found in 9/44 (20%) patients with serum Tg levels lower than 10 microg/L. Therefore, this series shows that a cutoff value of 10 microg/L for the Tg under T(4) is probably not the best criteria to select patient candidates for PET/CT-FDG examination to detect the recurrence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma.
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Ultrasonography (US) is increasingly being employed by endocrinologists and surgeons in the diagnosis and management of patients with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Recent consensus guidelines from the American Thyroid Association highlight the importance of this modality by recommending that patients with thyroid nodules should undergo further evaluation with cervical US to stratify the risk of malignancy. Likewise, ultrasound is advocated for the preoperative and postoperative diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastases. ⋯ US may be used to help stratify the risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules and cervical lymph nodes. This tool further aids in the diagnosis of malignancy when used in conjunction with fine-needle aspiration. US plays an important role as both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the evaluation of patients with neck masses.
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Bone marrow suppression after multiple, high-dose radioactive iodine (RAI) therapies is well described. However, changes in the peripheral complete blood count (CBC) that may occur after a single treatment of RAI such as that commonly used for routine remnant ablation is much less well studied. In this retrospective trial, we examined the rate of persistent anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia 1 year after a single RAI administration. ⋯ A single RAI treatment of approximately 3700 MBq (100 mCi) after thyroidectomy is associated with a statistically significant, mild decline in WBC and platelet counts that persists for at least 1 year after ablation. Given the small magnitude of the changes and the lack of clinically significant adverse events, these observations should not decrease the use of RAI ablation in moderate to high-risk patients in whom the benefits of ablation are likely to outweigh these minor risks.