Focal Thyroid Uptake during ¹⁸F-Choline PET/CT: A Case Report

Giordano Savelli¹, Pietro Basile¹, Alfredo Muni², Claudio Bna³, Claudio Pizzocaro¹, Renato Pagani⁴

¹Nuclear Medicine, Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero, Brescia, Italy.
²Nuclear Medicine, SS. Antonio e Biagio Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
³Radiology, Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero, Brescia, Italy.
⁴Renato Pagani, Carlo Poma Hospital, Mantua, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/crcm.2015.411069                

Abstract

Here we report the case of a 60-year-old patient previously affected by prostate cancer treated with prostatectomy. After surgery, the patient was scheduled for routine follow up examinations including biochemical and imaging evaluations. PSA testing evidenced a light, continuous increase in the course of the last four sampling. This finding calls for a biochemical recurrence. Thus the patient underwent a ¹⁸F-Fluorocholine (FCH) PET/CT to detect the possible sites of the relapse. FCH PET/CT did not disclose any focal uptake suggesting a metastatic spread. However, one focal uptake was noticed in the lower pole of the right thyroid lobe, corresponding to a hypodense nodule. Therefore, the patient was studied with 99 mTc thyroid scan and neck ultrasound. Both examinations had findings suspicious of a neoplasm. The fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) that was carried out to rule out a malignancy, gave a TIR2 result. FCH PET/CT may give thyroidal uptakes in benign lesions.

Keywords

¹⁸F-Choline, PET/CT, Prostate Cancer, Thyroid Incidentaloma

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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