Vier patiënten met een incidentaloom van de schildklier bij fluor-18-deoxyglucose-positronemissietomografie (FDG-PET)

- In 4 patients, an incidentaloma of the thyroid was found on 18-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET). In the first patient, a 73-year-old man, a medullary thyroid carcinoma was discovered during the staging procedure of a laryngeal carcinoma. In the second patient, an 81-year-old woman, a follicular thyroid carcinoma was found as a result of a FDG-PET evaluation of an adenocarcinoma of the lung. In the third patient, a 64-year-old woman, a papillary thyroid carcinoma was found during dissemination investigation after curative removal of an adrenocortical carcinoma. The last patient, a 78-year-old man, was found to have a thyroid incidentaloma on FDG-PET scan during staging of a recurrence of a gastrointestinal stromal tumour. Thyroid incidentalomas are present on 1.2-2.3 of FDG-PET scans. Further diagnostic work-up of these lesions by fine needle aspiration is warranted since up to 50 are malignant. However, whether these malignant thyroid lesions are relevant is not always clear. Treatment depends on the primary disease for which the FDG-PET scan was initially made. This requires good evaluation and discussion with the patient.

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2007;151:2337-41