Thyroid tumor imaging

Clinical assessment of a patient with a focal or diffuse thyroid tumor is but the first step in diagnostic evaluation. The diagnostic imaging process augments information obtained by the inspecting eye and the palpating hand; it allows the qualification (for example, cystic v solid) and the quantification (for example, size, extension, and assessment of physiologic function) of the thyroid tumor mass. This diagnostic input allows the establishment of a more realistic provisional diagnosis and directs a rational treatment approach to the patient. This presentation reviews the major imaging modalities available for thyroid tumor evaluation: diagnostic ultrasound, radionuclide scans, and conventional radiology and computed tomography. The applications of these various modalities and their critical potentials and limitations are placed in a contemporary clinical setting. It is hoped that an increasing familiarity with these imaging modalities will give better direction to the specialist in otolaryngology--head and neck surgery and greater surgical benefit to his or her patients.