Differentiated thyroid cancer: radioiodine following lobectomy — a clinical feasibility study

The surgical management of differentiated thyroid cancer remains controversial. Total thyroidectomy has been associated with higher rates of post-operative morbidity than more conservative surgery, but radioiodine ablation of residual thyroid tissue is considered to be particularly difficult after lobectomy. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the feasibility of I ablation after lobectomy, compared with total thyroidectomy, in patients who had undergone surgery for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. A retrospective analysis was performed of 225 post-surgical thyroid cancer patients treated with 3500 MBq I for the ablation of thyroid remnants. One hundred and sixty-five patients (73%) had previously undergone total thyroidectomy, whilst 60 patients (27%) had been treated by lobectomy. All patients underwent diagnostic scintigraphy, with 40 MBq I, 2 days prior to ablative therapy and at 3 months post-ablation. The median pre-ablative I neck uptake values were 3.3% and 20.1% in patients treated by total thyroidectomy and lobectomy, respectively (P