Abnormal radioiodine uptake on post-therapy whole body scan and sodium/iodine symporter expression in a dermoid cyst of the ovary: report of a case and review of the literature

• Main Authors: Alfredo Campennì, Salvatore Giovinazzo, Giovanni Tuccari, Simone Fogliani, Rosaria M. Ruggeri, Sergio Baldari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism
• Series: Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2359-39972015000400351&lng=en&tlng=en

In patients affected by differentiated thyroid cancer, the whole-body scan (WBS) with 131-radioiodine, especially when performed after a therapeutic activity of131I, represents a sensitive procedure for detecting thyroid remnant and/or metastatic disease. Nevertheless, a wide spectrum of potentially pitfalls has been reported. Herein we describe a 63-year-old woman affected by follicular thyroid cancer, who was accidentally found to have an abdominal mass at post-dose WBS (pWBS). pWBS showed abnormal radioiodine uptake in the upper mediastinum, consistent with lymph-node metastases, and a slight radioiodine uptake in an abdominal focal area. Computed tomography revealed an inhomogeneous mass in the pelvis, previously unrecognized. The lesion, surgically removed, was found to be a typical dermoid cyst of the ovary, without any evidence of thyroid tissue. By immunohistochemistry, a moderate expression of the sodium-iodine symporter (NIS) was demonstrated in the epithelial cells, suggesting a NIS-dependent uptake of radioiodine by the cyst.