Biomedical Research

The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of thyroid static imaging with ^99mTcO₄^- for detecting metastatic lesions following surgery in patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC). A total of 420 consecutive post-total thyroidectomy patients with pathologically diagnosed differentiated thyroid cancer underwent thyroid static imaging with ^99mTcO₄^- before 131I treatment to evaluate the size, location, and function of the residual thyroid. They also underwent 131I whole-body scanning (131IWBS), as well as single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography fusion imaging (when necessary), for evaluation of the lesions. The detection rates of thyroid static imaging with ^99mTcO₄^- and 131I-WBS (therapeutic dose) were 83.81% and 98.33%, respectively. The sensitivity of ^99mTcO₄^-  thyroid static imaging was 85.2%, and the rate of detection with both ^99mTcO₄^- static imaging and 131I-WBS was 85.48%. The use of ^99mTcO₄^- thyroid static imaging identified metastatic lesions in 10 patients; thus, the original planned treatment dose and protocol were adjusted in these patients. Based on our findings, we conclude that thyroid static imaging with ^99mTcO₄^- can be used to evaluate the residual thyroid tissue after thyroid carcinoma resection and can identify metastatic lesions, thereby helping to guide the selection of the ¹³¹I treatment dose.

Author(s): Hongbo Gao, Wei Song, Yuqing Di, Haichun Liu, Yujun Shao, Linlin Ma, Zheng Li, Congjun Jin, Huiliang Xie, Chunyuan Zhao, Lijun Yang, Xiaoyong Zhang, Yonghui Chen
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