Usefulness of thallium-201 imaging in the diagnosis of metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · J. Nucl. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6844556

Kusakabe, K; Kawasaki, S; Maki, M; Nara, S; Kondo, C; Nishioka, T; Hiroe, M; Kurihara, J; Obara, T; Yamasaki, T

To evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of Thallium-201 imaging for detecting metastases from thyroid carcinoma, the authors have compared it with radioiodine scans and serum thyroglobulin levels, which are currently the most sensitive technique for detecting and localizing metastases. Of the sixty-nine patients, fifty-three had lymph node, lung and/or bone metastases. All patients were treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma with various combinations of total thyroidectomy, radioiodine ablation and thyroid hormone. Scintigraphy with Tl-210 chloride was abnormal in 39 of 53 patients (sensitivity 74%), whereas 34 of 47 patients with I-131 (sensitivity 72%). Positive ratio of I-131 was correlated with histological type (93% of follicular type and 48% of papillary), whereas in the results with Tl-201 no correlation with histopathology was seen. In 13 patients with I-131 scan was negative, but in 11 patients Tl-201 scan revealed the presence of non-functioning metastases. The positive ratio of Tl-201 scans was correlated well with the size of metastases tumors (P<0.005). Of 43 patients with metastases whose thyroglobulin levels (Tg) were measured by radioimmunoassay, Tg were elevated more than 20ng/ml in 37 (86%); the remaining 14% were below 20 ng/ml in spite of having functioning metastases. These patients were subsequently to have elevation of Tg (>80ng/ml) during hypothyroidism. These results indicate Tl-201 scans correlate with serum thyroglobulin levels and have the added advantage of detecting and localizing non-functioning metastases which would not be detected by I-131 scans.

• Research Organization: Tokyo Womens Medical College, Tokyo
• OSTI ID: 6844556
• Report Number(s): CONF-840619-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550601* -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CARCINOMAS
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSTIC USES
DISEASES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
GLANDS
GLOBULINS
HEAVY NUCLEI
IMAGE PROCESSING
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IODINE 131
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
METASTASES
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PATIENTS
PROCESSING
PROTEINS
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
RADIOISOTOPES
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
THALLIUM 201
THALLIUM ISOTOPES
THYROGLOBULIN
THYROID
TRACER TECHNIQUES
USES