fluorocholine and Thyroid-Nodule

Topics: Choline; Humans; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary; Parathyroid Glands; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Proof of Concept Study; Thyroid Nodule

Topics: Choline; Humans; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary; Parathyroid Glands; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Thyroid Nodule

Topics: Choline; Humans; Parathyroid Neoplasms; Thyroid Nodule

Thyroid nodules frequently coexist with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Because of the increasing use of 18F-fluorocholine (18F-FCH) PET/CT in patients with pHPT, evaluation of its clinical utility for thyroid nodules characterization in this population is of paramount importance. Herein, we investigate the value of dual-point 18F-FCH PET/CT in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer in patients referred for pHPT imaging who have thyroid nodules.. All pHPT patients who underwent a dual-time point 18F-FCH PET/CT (at 5 and 60 minutes postinjection) between July 2019 and December 2020 were analyzed. Only those with a thyroid nodule greater than 10-mm and pathological analysis (criterion standard) were included. Nodule-to-thyroid SUVmax ratio was calculated at the 2 study points, as well as the 18F-FCH washout index (WO%).. Twenty-seven patients (32 nodules) were included in this study. The final diagnoses were as follows: 27 benign nodules including 2 NIFTPs (noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features) and 5 cancers of follicular origin. Early uptake ratio was significantly higher in malignant lesions than in benign nodules (P = 0.0008). Thyroid cancers were also characterized by a marked 18F-FCH washout index (WO% benign vs cancer: 2.9% ± 4.1% vs 45.5% ± 13.4%, P = 0.0001). Using a WO% threshold of 22.1%, 25/27 benign nodules and 5/5 malignant lesions were accurately classified (sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 92.6%, positive predictive value of 71.4%, and negative predictive value of 100%). The false-positive findings were related to the 2 NIFTPs that share similarities with thyroid cancer.. Our preliminary results suggest to perform a dual-time-point PET/CT acquisition protocol in pHPT patients with uncharacterized centimeter thyroid nodules. However, the real impact of these promising results should be assessed by prospective studies on a larger cohort of patients.

Topics: Choline; Humans; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Proof of Concept Study; Prospective Studies; Thyroid Neoplasms; Thyroid Nodule