Imaging of medullary thyroid carcinoma with Tc-99m (V) DMSA [Persian]

Twenty-one patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma were studied prospectively with Tc-99m (V) DMSA after surgery. Pentavalent DMSA scintigram demonstrated abnormal uptake in 13 and equivocal uptake in 6 patients. Finally, seven patients with surgical or other imaging documentation were selected for this paper. Most of these patients were asymptomatic. Six patients had hypercalcitonemia and serum calcitonins was not measured in one patient. Whole body scan with Tc-99m (V) DMSA demonstrated abnormal radiotracer uptake in all patients locating in the neck (3 cases), mediastinum (5 cases), bone (2 cases), liver (1 case) and thyroid lobes (2 cases). This preliminary study with the locally developed Tc-99m (V) DMSA showed that it is a useful imaging agent for localization of metastatic lesions in asymptomatic patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma and high serum calcitonine.