Why a neck scan might show extra thyroid tissue after cancer surgery

Original Title

The prevalence of thyroglossal tract thyroid tissue on SPECT/CT following 131I ablation therapy after total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer

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Summary

After removing the thyroid for cancer, some patients still have tiny bits of thyroid tissue left in the neck that weren't supposed to be there.

Proposed Mechanism

No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.

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Evidence Score

A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.

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Publication

Authors

Barber TW, Cherk MH, Topliss DJ, Serpell JW, Yap KS, Bailey M, Kalff V