Introduction and objective:

Nuclear Medicine has a relevant role in the study of thyroid and parathyroid gland pathology. The aim of this work is to review the imaging techniques available nowadays in Nuclear Medicine, to study this pathology.

Synthesis:

Thyroid scinthigraphy is, even today, a useful tool in the study of thyroid pathology, such us in the thyroid nodule or in congenital hypothyroidism. SPECT-CT, compared to whole body scintigraphy (WBS) with radioiodine, improve the diagnosis and change the therapeutic management in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, at the same time that, added to the parathyroid scintigraphy, it helps planning the surgery, especially in ectopic adenomas. PET-CT with FDG and other tracers has a relevant role in several indications and histology types of thyroid cancer, although mainly in the suspicion of recurrence. In addition, Fluorocholine PET-CT is an excellent alternative, with high successful localization rate, in cases with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) and negative conventional techniques.

Conclusions:

With technical advances in the area of Nuclear Medicine, and particularly with hybrid imaging, the study of thyroid pathology has improved, especially in thyroid cancer, as well as pre-surgical localization of pHPT.

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