Preoperative evaluation of thyroid nodules with 18FDG-PET/CT.

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Oncology
• Radiology

Background:

• Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is established in postoperative management of dedifferentiated thyroid cancer.
• Its role in preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules remains unclear.
• This study investigates the utility of FDG-PET/CT for preoperative thyroid nodule assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if FDG-PET/CT enhances the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules.
• To assess the effectiveness of FDG-PET/CT in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions prior to surgery.

Main Methods:

• 31 patients with 48 thyroid nodules underwent fine-needle aspiration and FDG-PET/CT.
• FDG-PET/CT imaging was performed 1 hour post-injection of FDG.
• Standardized uptake values (SUVs) were calculated, and CT scans were analyzed for pathology. Final diagnoses were compared with imaging findings.

Main Results:

• Of 48 lesions, 15 were malignant and 33 benign.
• (18)FDG-PET/CT demonstrated a sensitivity of 60% for malignant lesions (9/15 were (18)FDG-avid).
• Specificity for benign lesions was 91% (30/33 were (18)FDG-cold), with positive and negative predictive values of 75% and 83%, respectively.

Conclusions:

• FDG-PET/CT exhibits a high negative predictive value for malignancy in thyroid nodules.
• This imaging modality may be valuable for evaluating thyroid nodules with indeterminate fine-needle aspiration results.
• Further research with larger cohorts is necessary to confirm the diagnostic efficacy of FDG-PET/CT for thyroid nodules.