Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2016) 41 EP1102 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.41.EP1102

Vall Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.


Introduction: Incidental focal uptake in the thyroid gland is detected in 1%–2% of 18FDG-PET examinations. FNA is recommended due to an increased risk of malignancy (25–50%), but these figures are extracted from the studied cases (about a half). Moreover there is controversy about the maximum standardized uptake value (Suvmax) ability to discriminate between benign or malignant nodules.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 4207 FDG-PET scans performed for non-thyroidal reasons from January 2013 to October 2014 at our institution. Patients with focal thyroid uptake were assessed for age, sex, underlying conditions, Suvmax, TSH, Ultrasound, FNA cytology and pathological findings.

Results: 65 cases (1.54% of PETs) showed focal thyroid uptake, 41 (63%) females, median age (SD) 70 (12) years. Median (SD) SUVmax was 7.4 (6), [1.4–32]. In global 49 patients (75.4%) were found to have cancer, most common lung cancer and lymphoma, and currently 19 patients (29.2%) have died. Ultrasound was performed in 36 patients (55.4%): single nodule 16, multinodular 19, normal 1; mean nodular size 16.6 (9.6) mm; in 9 cases the nodule was suspictious. Twenty-five cases (38.5%) underwent FNA. Bethesda score was I: 6 (24%); II: 10 (40%); III: 1 (4%); IV: 3 (12%); V: 1 (4%); VI: 4 (16%). Seven patients were operated on, 5 were thyroid cancer (papillary 4, anaplasic 1). Higher SUVmax values prompted FNA exam (P 0.01), however any relation was found between SUVmax and cytology (P 0.44) nor nodular size (P 0.07). There was a direct correlation between TSH levels and SUVmax (P<0.001), but disappeared when analizing euthyroidal patients (TSH 0.5–4.5, n 53) P 0.9.

Conclusions: We report similar frequencies and clinical workup of thyroid PEToma compared to previous series. Few cases underwent thyroidectomy, however thyroid cancer was a frequent histological finding. SUVmax could not determine risk of malignancy.

Article tools

My recent searches

No recent searches.