Purpose

The incidence and clinical significance of thyroiditis detected by molecular imaging methods is a clinical challenge that is not widely investigated in the literature. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze published data about the detection of thyroiditis on PET or PET/CT using different tracers.

Methods

A comprehensive computer literature search of the Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases was conducted up to November 2019 to find relevant papers on the detection of thyroiditis by PET/CT, the metabolic appearance, and the clinical significance.

Results

Twenty-six articles were selected and retrieved in full-text version. From the analyses of these studies, the following main findings have been found. Diffuse thyroid uptake of PET tracers is a relatively frequent event, ranging from 0.4 to 46.2%, and it is commonly related to benign disease. Thyroiditis is the most frequent reason for diffuse increased thyroid ¹⁸F-FDG uptake. Cases of malignant disease with a pattern of diffuse ¹⁸F-FDG thyroid uptake are less frequent. Preliminary studies show a possible role of thyroiditis detected by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in evaluating treatment response and as a prognostic marker in oncological patients treated with immunotherapy. However, further studies are needed.

Conclusions

Diffuse ¹⁸F-FDG thyroid uptake is a relatively rare event commonly due to benign diseases, among which thyroiditis is the most common. The rate of neoplastic disease with diffuse ¹⁸F-FDG thyroid uptake is very low. Diffuse ¹⁸F-FDG thyroid uptake requires further investigation and clinical evaluation for the correct diagnosis. Currently, cases of diffuse thyroid uptake with non-¹⁸F-FDG radiotracer are only anecdotal.

中文翻译：

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在PET / CT成像上检测甲状腺炎：系统评价。

目的

通过分子成像方法检测到的甲状腺炎的发病率和临床意义是一项临床挑战，尚未在文献中进行广泛研究。该系统评价的目的是分析使用不同示踪剂在PET或PET / CT上检测甲状腺炎的已公开数据。

方法

截至2019年11月，我们对Scopus，PubMed / MEDLINE，Embase和Cochrane库数据库进行了全面的计算机文献搜索，以找到有关通过PET / CT检测甲状腺炎，代谢表现和临床意义的相关论文。

结果

选择了26篇文章，并以全文检索。通过对这些研究的分析，发现了以下主要发现。甲状腺对PET示踪剂的弥漫性甲状腺摄取是一个相对频繁的事件，范围为0.4％至46.2％，并且通常与良性疾病有关。甲状腺炎是甲状腺¹⁸ F-FDG摄取弥漫性增加的最常见原因。扩散性摄取¹⁸ F-FDG甲状腺的恶性疾病病例较少。初步研究表明，用¹⁸ F-FDG PET / CT检测到的甲状腺炎可能在评估治疗反应以及作为接受免疫疗法治疗的肿瘤患者的预后指标中发挥作用。但是，还需要进一步的研究。

结论

弥漫性¹⁸ F-FDG甲状腺摄取是相对罕见的事件，通常是由于良性疾病引起的，其中甲状腺炎是最常见的。弥漫性¹⁸ F-FDG甲状腺摄取的肿瘤性疾病的发生率非常低。弥漫性¹⁸ F-FDG甲状腺摄取需要进一步研究和临床评估以正确诊断。目前，非¹⁸ F-FDG放射性示踪剂对甲状腺弥漫性甲状腺摄取的病例只是传闻。