The Role of Nuclear Medicine in Benign Thyroid Disease

Since the mid-twentieth century, the radionuclide thyroid scan has been utilized in the management of benign thyroid disorders. In current medical practice, patients with hyperthyroidism are referred for thyroid scintigraphy, while patients with goiters and thyroid nodules are most often evaluated by ultrasound or computed tomography. Since thyroid scintigraphy reflects the functional state of the gland, it provides information that anatomical imaging lacks. Therefore, radionuclide imaging of the thyroid is the imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of the hyperthyroid patient. In addition, patients with so-called subclinical hyperthyroidism often present a diagnostic dilemma to the clinician since the causative factor must be determined for proper patient management. The aim of this manuscript is to illustrate the imaging characteristics of thyroid disorders commonly seen in clinical practice resulting in thyrotoxicosis or pending thyrotoxicosis, so that correlation with clinical presentation and pertinent laboratory data will lead to the correct diagnosis.