Abnormal radioiodine uptake on post-therapy whole body scan and sodium/iodine symporter expression in a dermoid cyst of the ovary: report of a case and review of the literature.
In patients affected by differentiated thyroid cancer, the whole-body scan (WBS) with 131-radioiodine, especially when performed after a therapeutic activity of 131I, represents a sensitive procedure for detecting thyroid remnant and/or metastatic disease. Nevertheless, a wide spectrum of potentially pitfalls has been reported. Herein we describe a 63-year-old woman affected by follicular thyroid cancer, who was accidentally found to have an abdominal mass at post-dose WBS (pWBS). pWBS showed abnormal radioiodine uptake in the upper mediastinum, consistent with lymph-node metastases, and a slight radioiodine uptake in an abdominal focal area. Computed tomography revealed an inhomogeneous mass in the pelvis, previously unrecognized. The lesion, surgically removed, was found to be a typical dermoid cyst of the ovary, without any evidence of thyroid tissue. By immunohistochemistry, a moderate expression of the sodium-iodine symporter (NIS) was demonstrated in the epithelial cells, suggesting a NIS-dependent uptake of radioiodine by the cyst.
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e delle Immagini Morfologiche e Funzionali, Unità di Medicina Nucleare, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, IT.
Alfredo
A
Campennì
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, IT.
Salvatore
S
Giovinazzo
Dipartimento di Patologia Umana, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, IT.
Giovanni
G
Tuccari
Unità di Scienze Radiologiche, Ospedale di Milazzo, Messina, IT.
Simone
S
Fogliani
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, IT.
Rosaria M
RM
Ruggeri
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e delle Immagini Morfologiche e Funzionali, Unità di Medicina Nucleare, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, IT.
Sergio
S
Baldari
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D013724:Teratoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms; D051598:Whole Body Imaging
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes