Importance of MIBI scintigraphy in the detection of thyroidal cancers : a case report
The investigation of thyroidal nodules is intended to select patients who are candidates for surgery, based on a cytological study with a good positive predictive value. Here we report the case of a 30-year-old woman presenting with a thyroid mixed nodule on the whole right lobule, cold on scintigraphy, and with no criteria of malignancy on cervical ultrasound and which cytological study did not reveal any suspicious cells. The 99mTc - methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) thyroid imaging showed a clear retention of MIBI in the cold nodule as described with technetium scan, motivating the realization of a partial surgery for which extemporaneous study favored papillary thyroid carcinoma, completed afterwards by a surgical removal. Thyroid MIBI imaging is a sensitive test for the detection of thyroid cancers and thus may be useful for improving the diagnostic accuracy of the thyroid nodules approach in the future and optimize invasive gestures from fine-needle aspiration biopsy to surgery.