Superiority of Iodine-123 Compared with Iodine-131 Scanning for Thyroid Remnants in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Abstract

Iodine-123 is a pure gamma emitter and has excellent characteristics for imaging with modern scintillation cameras. The goal of this study was to compare the performance of I-123 and I-131 as imaging agents for whole-body scanning in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer undergoing ablation for thyroid remnants after initial surgery. Fourteen patients with differentiated thyroid cancer who had undergone near-total thyroidectomy and had serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels greater than 40 mU/l underwent diagnostic scanning 5 hours after administration of 48 to 56 MBq (1.3 to 1.5 mCi) I-123 and 48 hours after administration of 111 MBq (3 mCi) I-131. After receiving ablative I-131 therapy, they also underwent whole-body planar imaging 7 days later. The diagnostic I-123 and I-131 scans were compared with each other and with the post-therapy images by two nuclear medicine physicians and one endocrinologist. The diagnostic scans revealed 35 foci in the thyroid bed and neck. The I-123 images showed all 35 foci, but only 32 of the 35 foci (91%) were seen on the I-131 scans. The findings of pre- and post-therapy scans were concordant in 11 of 13 patients, and the same general sites of uptake (left and right thyroid bed, midline) were revealed on both sets of images. In one patient, a focus seen on the diagnostic I-123 and I-131 images was not visualized on the post-therapy scan and was thought to represent possible stunning. An additional area of uptake in the lower right neck and upper mediastinum was present on the post-therapy scan of another patient, but it was not seen on diagnostic images. These results show improved quality of imaging with 50 MBq (1.5 mCi) I-123 compared with 111 MBq (3 mCi) I-131 for whole-body scanning in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer undergoing thyroid remnant ablation. I-123 imaging may prove to be the preferred procedure in such settings in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.