Increased Pituitary Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in...

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT is performed for the assessment of radioactive iodine non-avid disease in patients with DTC. In patients prepared by THW, increased pituitary uptake of ¹⁸F-FDG in the absence of pituitary disease may reflect the physiological activation of pituitary thyrotroph cells by hypothyroidism. This study aimed to compare pituitary ¹⁸F-FDG uptake in patients with DTC under THW vs. rhTSH stimulation.

A total of 57 patients with DTC undergoing ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT (40 under THW and 17 under rhTSH stimulation) were retrospectively analyzed. Pituitary metabolism was expressed as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and as SUVratio using the right cerebellum as reference.

Pituitary hypermetabolism (SUVmax ≥ 4.1) was present in more patients in the THW group compared to the rhTSH group (62.5% vs. 23.5%; p = 0.01). Pituitary metabolism was significantly higher in the THW group compared to the rhTSH group, as assessed by either SUVmax (mean ± SD: 4.61 ± 1.22, 95%CI: 4.22-5.00 vs. 3.34 ± 0.86, 95%CI: 2.9-3.8; p < 0.001) or SUVratio (0.52 ± 0.11, 95%CI: 0.49-0.56 vs. 0.42 ± 0.07, 95%CI: 0.38-0.46; p < 0.001). Serum TSH levels correlated positively with SUVmax (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) and SUVratio (r = 0.44, p < 0.01) in the THW group only.

The present findings support the hypothesis that pituitary hypermetabolism on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in patients with DTC undergoing THW is a common physiological response to hypothyroidism. Awareness of this physiological hypermetabolism is important to avoid potential pitfalls in image interpretation.