[Study on different imaging time of late 201Tl thyroid imaging to differentiate malignant from benign thyroid...

This study was undertaken to clarify better time to initiate the late 201Tl thyroid imaging to differentiate malignant thyroid nodules from benign ones. Thyroid images were obtained at 5 min, 1 and 3 hr after i.v. injection of 74 MBq of 201Tl chloride. The early (5 min) and late (1 or 3 hr) 201Tl images were compared in pathologically proven 38 malignant and 48 benign nodules of 83 patients. The lesion activity (LA) on the early image was visually graded as no uptake (-), slight uptake less than the surrounding thyroid tissue uptake (STTU) (+/-), uptake equal to the STTU (+), and uptake more than the STTU (++). The change of LA relative to the STTU from the early image to the late image was visually graded as decreasing (D), unchanged (U) or increasing (I) pattern when the LA was (+/-) to (++). The benign or malignant possibility at 1 hr and 3 hr in each lesion pattern was as follows: When the LA was (-) or D, the benign possibility was 95% (35/37) and 85% (39/46). When the LA was I, the malignant possibility was 96% (27/28) and 91% (21/23). When the LA is U, the diagnosis was equivocal: malignancy; 43% (9/21) at 1 hr and 59% (10/17) at 3 hr. The positive LA had a tendency to decrease with time irrespective of tumor character. The 1 hr image was statistically better than the 3 hr image as a late image. Comparative diagnosis of 5 min and 1 hr images with the criteria of I and U lesions being malignant and others being benign seems to be the best not to overlook malignant nodules: negative predictive value 95% and sensitivity 95%.