False-positive whole-body scan after I-131 therapy in a patient with intestinal scar.
The I-131 whole-body scan is a useful test to investigate the presence of metastatic disease of thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy. A 53-year-old woman received I-131 4 months after total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma for postsurgical ablation of the residual tumor cells. Whole-body scan demonstrated focal uptake of I-131 in the right iliac fossa that persisted 2 days later even after administration of laxatives. Computed tomography of this area showed only focal bowel scar presumably resulting from a complicated appendectomy 31 years ago. Intestinal adhesions accumulate I-131 and give false-positive activity on whole-body I-131 scans.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Laiko University Hospital, Athens, Greece. csioka@yahoo.com
Chrissa
C
Sioka
N
N
Dimakopoulos
G
G
Kouraklis
I
I
Kotsalou
A
A
Zouboulidis
D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000601:surgery; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes