Technetium Pertechnetate Imaging in Apparent Solitary Thyroid Nodule

ABSTRACT 99mTc‐pertechnetate rectilinear scans of the thyroid were performed in 272 patients judged to have solitary thyroid nodules on palpation. Eighty percent of these patients were shown to have decreased uptake in a single thyroid nodule. Further analyses were made among 82 patients who had surgery for such nodules. Again, 90 percent of these showed the scintigraphic appearance of focal decrease in uptake. Among these 82, histological evidence of carcinoma (follicular, papillary or mixed) was seen in 31 cases (37.8%), a further 31 cases showed follicular adenoma while 3 had autoimmune thyroiditis and 8 showed simple cysts. We conclude the hypofunctioning solitary nodule without clinical evidence of malignancy need not always be cancerous but the incidence I have demonstrated is high enough to warrant surgery in all patients with a palpable single nodule with reduced isotope uptake.