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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Author Spotlight: Integrating Ultrasound Imaging with Biochemical Markers for Thyroid Disease Diagnosis
Published on: February 9, 2024
False positive diagnosis on (131)iodine whole-body scintigraphy of differentiated thyroid cancers
Vincenzo Triggiani1, Vito Angelo Giagulli2, Michele Iovino3
1Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine. Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. vincenzo.triggiani@uniba.it.
Abstract:
(131)Iodine is used both to ablate any residual thyroid tissue or metastatic disease and to obtain whole-body diagnostic images after total thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Even though whole-body scan is highly accurate in showing thyroid residues as well as metastases of DTC, false positive results can be found, possibly leading to diagnostic errors and unnecessary treatments. This paper reviews the physiological and pathological processes involved as well as the strategy to recognize and rule out false positive radioiodine images.
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