title: Clinical usefulness of 99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy in the postsurgical evaluation of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Tc-methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (MIBI) has been reported to show considerable clinical utility in the study of many neoplastic diseases. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible role of Tc-MIBI in the initial follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) for detecting residual thyroid uptake and/or loco-regional/distant metastases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-two patients with DTC (61 women, 21 men; mean age: 49 years) were studied after total or near-total thyroidectomy (not earlier than 3 months after thyroidectomy but before they underwent radioiodine therapy). About 20 min after the intravenous administration of 370 MBq of Tc-MIBI, planar images (and, if necessary, tomographic images, single photon emission tomography) of the cervical and thoracic regions were recorded and compared with posttherapy radioiodine scanning and thyreoglobulin serum levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MIBI scans detected thyroid remnants in 53 of 82 patients (65%) and metastatic foci in 10 of 11 (91%) patients, in whom a standard activity of 1110 MBq of I administered following MIBI scan had shown the presence of thyroid remnants or metastatic foci, respectively. One metastatic patient was false negative for both MIBI scan and post-I dose whole body scan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate that an MIBI scan has a high sensitivity in detecting metastatic lesions from DTC. Therefore, an MIBI scan after thyroidectomy and immediately before radioiodine treatment may be clinically useful for choosing the best therapeutic approach in terms of either ablative or therapeutic I activity for both thyroid remnants and/or DTC metastases and for evaluating surgical reappraisal of metastatic lymph nodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Sciences, Unit of Nuclear Medicine, University of Messina, Italy. alfredo.campenni@alice.it
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campennì
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Violi
authors.forename: Rosaria M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sindoni
authors.forename: Mariacarla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moleti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vermiglio
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baldari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi