American journal of surgery
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Utility of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in differentiated thyroid carcinoma with negative radioiodine scans and elevated serum thyroglobulin levels.
This study aimed to determine the role of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in the follow-up of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and iodine-131 ((131)I) ablation therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer and presented increased thyroglobulin levels with negative (131)I and thallium-201 ((201)Tl) scans. ⋯ This study indicates that the FDG-PET whole-body scan is a useful tool in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, negative (131)I and (201)Tl scans and elevated serum thyroglobulin levels. The FDG-PET scan detects metastatic disease in 60% of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, enabling surgical therapy to be performed on accessible lesions.