Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and magnetic resonance imaging in recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma: a comparative study.

In a prospective study, 18 patients with recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the neck and mediastinum and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) with 111In-labeled pentetreotide. In nine patients with macroscopic MTC, 17 corresponding lesions were found on MRI and SRS; in addition, 13 suspicious lesions were seen on SRS only. Histological confirmation was available for 19 metastatic lesions, showing MRI to be true positive in 13 metastases, SRS in 18. In minimal residual disease (n = 10), MRI and SRS were compared with the histological findings in three patients and with selective venous catheterization (SVC) in seven patients. Corresponding findings on MRI and SVC were seen in one of seven, whereas SRS and SVC showed concordant localization of tumor recurrence in five of seven. Histological examination demonstrated MTC tissue in one of three cases; MRI and SRS were false positive in one of three cases, while in the others the interpretation remained uncertain. In conclusion, SRS is a promising imaging modality for localization of MTC recurrence. MRI provides better spatial resolution and thus facilitates the planning of surgery for macroscopic metastases. In minimal residual disease, SRS turned out to be superior in detecting occult MTC recurrence, confirming SVC findings.