title: [Interpretation of thyroid incidentalomas in (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Thyroid findings or incidentalomas in (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies are relatively frequent, being its clinical significance subject of controversy. The aim of this study was to show our experience in the detection of thyroid incidentalomas by PET/CT studies as well as its follow up.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective and descriptive review was conducted on patients who had thyroid incidentalomas detected in (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies between June 2010 and March 2013. Patient's medical records were reviewed for age, genre, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), thyroid diseases, TSH and antithyroid antibodies levels, ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and cytology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  4085 PET/CT studies for several purposes were performed. Eighty-three of these studies (2.03%) showed thyroid incidentalomas. Thirty-seven patients showed a diffuse increase of glucose metabolism in the thyroid gland and 46 showed a focal increase of glucose metabolism. Five out of 46 patients with focal uptake were diagnosed of a neoplastic disease by cytology (11%). The SUVmax of malignant pathology did not differ from that of benign thyroid diseases (Mean: 10,26 and 5,92 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our experience, focal thyroid incidentalomas detected in (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies are related to a significant risk of malignancy (11%). Therefore, in these situations, an ultrasound study with fine needle biopsy should be recommended. Moreover, a diffuse increase of glucose metabolism in the thyroid gland is often associated with benign thyroid pathology.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: achurycarl@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Achury
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Estorch
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domènech
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Camacho
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flotats
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaller
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geraldo
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deportós
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montes
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carrió
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: (18)F-FDG; 18F-FDG; Fine-needle aspiration; Fluordeoxiglucosa; Fluorodeoxyglucose; Incidentalomas tiroideos; PET/CT; PET/TC; Positron-emission tomography; Punción-aspiración con aguja fina; Thyroid incidentalomas; Tomografía por emisión de positrones
vernacular_title: Interpretación de incidentalomas tiroideos en estudios PET/TC con (18)F-FDG.