THE ROLE OF NECK ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE FOLLOW-UP OF
PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENTIATED THYROID CANCER AFTER TOTAL THYROIDECTOMY AND
I131-ABLATION AND LOW OR UNDETECTABLE THYROGLOBULIN LEVELS (Thyroid 2018, 28
[6])
After total thyroidectomy and 131I ablation, neck
ultrasonography should in general be reserved for patients with a Tg level of
≥1 μg/L in
anti-Tg antibody negative patients, regardless of initial risk. Patients with a
Tg <1 μg/L have an
extremely low rate of true-positive neck ultrasonography, but they have a
considerable rate of false-positive findings (ranging from 45 to 67 % in the
literature). In contrast, patients with a Tg level ≥1 μg/L may
benefit from neck ultrasonography evaluations, given a much better balance
between true- and false-positive findings. False-positive results of neck
ultrasonography in these patients may result in a large number of additional
follow-up visits, increasing patient’s anxiety, and causing more invasive investigations
or interventions as a result of these findings. In contrast, in patients with
low (< 1μg/L) or
undetectable Tg levels, true positive results are observed in 1.6 % of patients
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