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The Role of Tc-99 m-MIBI Scan in the Assessment of the Cystic Thyroid Nodule

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Abstract

Purpose

A non-surgical therapeutic option requires assurance that a cystic thyroid nodule with non-diagnostic cytology is benign. This work was undertaken to determine whether Tc-99 m-MIBI scan (MIBI) findings can guide the best therapeutic option with confidence.

Material and Methods

We studied 81 cystic non-functioning thyroid nodules with non-diagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) report classified according to ATA 2015 ultrasonography (US) patterns for suspicion of malignancy. All had a MIBI to assess metabolic activity within the nodule as well as histopathological diagnosis. Diagnostic value analysis of MIBI as compared to the US pattern was determined.

Results

None of the 11 patients with US pattern of benign showed positive MIBI, and all had a histopathological report of benign. Diagnostic value of MIBI on US pattern of very low suspicion showed sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 100%, 78.9%, 42.9%, and 100%, respectively.

Conclusion

Our data shows that the only approach to a safe non-surgical treatment option in a cystic nodule with non-diagnostic FNAB is when no metabolic activity is seen on MIBI.

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Data Availability

The data in this study come from the archives of the thyroid clinic of the General Hospital of Mexico and can be shared for your review. Please contact author for data requests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Surgery Service, Thyroid Clinic, Hospital General de México, Dr. Balmis 148, CP 6726, México City, México

    Luis-Mauricio Hurtado-López

  2. Perspectum LTD, Oxford, UK

    Carlos Martínez-Duncker

Authors
  1. Luis-Mauricio Hurtado-López
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  2. Carlos Martínez-Duncker
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Contributions

Luis-Mauricio Hurtado-López: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, and writing — original draft. Carlos Martinez-Duncker: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, and writing — original draft.

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Correspondence to Luis-Mauricio Hurtado-López.

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Competing Interests

Luis-Mauricio Hurtado-López and Carlos Martínez-Duncker declare no competing interests.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

All procedures were performed as standard of care following the internal guidelines of the institution for the assessment of patients with thyroid nodules, and the IRB and the ethics committee approved this study.

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Our work does not require informed consent of images as it does not contain any individual person’s data in any form (including individual details, images, or videos).

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Hurtado-López, LM., Martínez-Duncker, C. The Role of Tc-99 m-MIBI Scan in the Assessment of the Cystic Thyroid Nodule. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 55, 181–185 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-021-00708-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-021-00708-4

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