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F18-choline/C11-choline PET/CT thyroid incidentalomas

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Abstract

Introduction

Thyroid incidentaloma is defined as a thyroid lesion incidentally and newly detected by imaging techniques performed for an unrelated purpose and especially for a non-thyroid disease. Aim of this review is to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of focal incidental radiolabelled choline uptake in the thyroid gland (CTI) revealed by PET or PET/CT.

Methods

A comprehensive computer literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases was conducted to find relevant published articles about the prevalence and clinical significance of CTIs detected by PET or PET/CT in patients studied for other oncologic purposes.

Results

Fifteen articles (14 case reports, one retrospective study on a larger population sample) were included in the systematic review. Considering the case reports, 7/14 CTIs were benign and 7/14 malignant. In the retrospective study on a larger population sample, 14/15 CTIs which underwent further investigations were benign.

Conclusion

Despite very rare but probably underestimated, CTIs frequently signal in the presence of unexpected lesions in the thyroid that differ from the indicated reason for which the patient was initially scanned, and the risk of malignancy is not negligible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine, University of Brescia and Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Francesco Bertagna, Domenico Albano & Raffaele Giubbini

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland

    Luca Giovanella & Giorgio Treglia

  3. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Giorgio Treglia

  4. Health Technology Assessment Unit, General Directorate, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona, Switzerland

    Giorgio Treglia

Authors
  1. Francesco Bertagna
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  2. Domenico Albano
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  3. Luca Giovanella
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  4. Raffaele Giubbini
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  5. Giorgio Treglia
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Correspondence to Francesco Bertagna.

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Bertagna, F., Albano, D., Giovanella, L. et al. F18-choline/C11-choline PET/CT thyroid incidentalomas. Endocrine 64, 203–208 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-01841-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-01841-z

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