Clinical significance of standardized uptake values in thyroid incidentaloma discovered by F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Abstract

There is a relatively high possibility of a malignant lesion in thyroid incidentaloma. FDG uptake of these lesions is not a useful tool in absolute discrimination between malignancy and benign lesion. The presence of primary or secondary malign lesion is diagnosed in 34.1% of the patients who are found to have incidental focal FDG uptake within thyroid gland in PET/CT scans, but we suggest that the thyroid incidentalomas detected on FDG PET/CT should be further examined with USG and scintigraphy.