Evaluation of A FDG PET effectiveness in detection of neck metastases in papillary thyroid cancer

FDG PET emerges as a method frequently used as a diagnostic method in various malignant diseases, with the increase in popularity in recent years. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of FDG PET in detecting neck lymph node metastases in cases with papillary type thyroid cancer. In this retrospective study, 68 patients who applied to our clinic between January 2012 and May 2021, whose diagnosis of papillary cancer in the thyroid gland were confirmed histopathologically and who underwent surgical intervention for neck lymph nodes were included. FDG PET films and reports of our patients taken before the operation were reviewed. Histopathological diagnosis and FDG PET films and reports were matched. Of the 68 patients included in our study, 56 were diagnosed with papillary cancer histopathologically, and the histopathology of 12 patients was reported as negative. FDG PET uptake was present in 49 of 56 patients with positive histopathology, and no involvement was observed in 3 of 12 patients in the negative group. In our study, FDG-PET demonstrated a patient-based sensitivity of %87.5 specificity of %25. It is an important guide along with other examinations.