Evaluation of human thyroid tumors by proton nuclear magnetic resonance

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used in a study of 40 patients with thyroid tumors following partial or total thyroidectomy. Three patient groups were considered: those with nodules showing increased uptake, those with solitary nodules with decreased uptake, and those with multinodular goiters. Spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times (T1 and T2) were measured on samples of nodular and extranodular tissue from each patient. Increased T1 and T2 were observed for benign cold nodules, an increase in T1 alone for nodules with increased uptake, and a wide fluctuation in T1 and T2 for multinodular goiters. The four cancers in the series did not show a distinctive proton NMR pattern in comparison with the other nodular structures studied. The results point to the feasibility of applying NMR techniques to the detection of thyroid disease.