查看文章

Purpose

To review current literature and determine the prevalence of malignant incidental focal hypermetabolic thyroid lesions detected by fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18 F-FDG-PET).

Materials and methods

Studies evaluating thyroid carcinomas discovered incidentally on 18 F-FDG-PET were systematically searched in the MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) Reviews from 1998 to 2007. Studies were eligible for inclusion with the following criteria: 18 F-FDG-PET studies carried out on humans, long-term clinical follow-up or presence of histological confirmation of thyroid disease, and if studies reported the prevalence of abnormal 18 F-FDG-PET scans with thyroid lesions and confirmed pathological thyroid disease. Studies were excluded if (1) there was no confirmed diagnosis,(2) there was a history of thyroid cancer,(3) they were carried out for diagnoses of …