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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2019 September;63(3):311-20
DOI: 10.23736/S1824-4785.17.02961-2
Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA
language: English
Diffusion-weighted MRI is not superior to FDG-PET/CT for the detection of neck recurrence in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma
Pierre VERA 1 ✉, Agathe EDET-SANSON 1, Farzaneh QUIEFFIN 2, Joseph LE CLOIREC 1, Anne-Sophie BERTRAND 1, Martin CAILLEAUX 1, Jean-Francois MENARD 2, Charlotte LUSSEY-LEPOUTRE 3, 4, Francoise CALLONNEC 1
1 Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Henri Becquerel Centre & Quant.I.F - LITIS (Equipe d’Accueil) 4108 - Fédération de Recherche CNRS 3638, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rouen, Rouen, France; 2 Department of Statistics, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France; 3 Thyroid and Endocrine Tumors Unit, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris VI University, Cancer Institute, Paris, France; 4 INSERM, UMR970, Paris-Cardiovascular Research Center at HEGP, Paris, France
BACKGROUND: Management of patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma (WDTC) and positive thyroglobulin (Tg)/negative iodine-131 whole body scintigraphy (WBS) remains challenging. Here, we investigate the specific role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the neck (DW-MRI) as compared to rhTSH stimulated FDG-PET/CT in such patients.
METHODS: Patients with WDTC, positive Tg/negative WBS were prospectively enrolled in the study. FDG-PET/CT and neck DW-MRI were performed on the same day after rhTSH stimulation. Neck-US was performed 24 hours after FDG-PET/CT and MRI to guide fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Patients with positive FNA underwent surgery. Patient with negative workup underwent new explorations at 6 and 18 months.
RESULTS: A total of 86 FDG-PET/CT and 83 DW-MRI tests were performed in 40 patients (23 females; 17 males; 52±16 years). For detection of neck recurrences, sensitivity was equivalent for FDG-PET/CT and to DW-MRI at baseline (46% vs. 43%), at 6 months (30% vs. 20%) and at 18 months (11 vs. 10%). The comparison with a non-weighted Kappa test shows significant concordance between FDG-PET/CT and DW-MRI (K=0.741±0.062; P<0.0001). A relationship was observed between Tg and results of FDG-PET/CT, but not for DW-MRI. FDG-PET/CT permitted to detect iodine-refractory distant metastasis in 4 patients.
CONCLUSIONS: In Tg-positive/WBS-negative DTC patients, low tumour burden, neck DW-MRI does not provide additional information compared to rhTSH-stimulated FDG-PET/CT. FDG-PET/CT has the best sensitivity, is acceptable for patients, allows whole body exploration and distant metastasis detections, and is correlated with Tg levels.
KEY WORDS: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging; Ultrasonography; Neck; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Positron-emission tomography; Thyroid neoplasms