title: F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging in the diagnostic work-up of thyroid cancer patients with high serum thyroglobulin, negative I-131 whole body scan and suppressed thyrotropin: 8-year experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who have high serum thyroglobulin, negative iodine-131 whole body scan and suppressed thyrotropin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 90 patients (31 male and 59 female) with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who have high serum thyroglobulin and negative iodine-131 whole body scan were included in the study between July 2006 and March 2014. All patients had undergone surgery (total thyroidectomy ± lymph node dissection) followed by iodine-131 ablation. Of the patients, 82 had papillary thyroid carcinoma and 8 follicular thyroid carcinoma. Serum thyrotropin was suppressed (< 2 μ IU/ml) during the Fluor-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall sensitivity of fluor-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in the detection of metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer was 84.8%, the specificity 79.1%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of fluor-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in classic type of papillary cancer was 83.3% and 54.5%, respectively. The corresponding figures for the tall cell variant was 85.7% and 87.5%, respectively. The difference between the two histological subtypes was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that fluor-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging could be a valuable test for the routine follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey. umutelboga@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Elboga
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karaoglan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalender
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basıbuyuk
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeki Celen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozkaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000639:trends; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000097:blood*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000639:trends; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D013972:Thyrotropin; D013954:Thyroglobulin