Post total thyroidectomy elevated anti-thyroglobulin antibodies in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer - Residual disease or residual thyroiditis?

Conclusions: The study demonstrates a statistically significant positive correlation of elevated pre- 131I-treatment thyroglobulin antibodies with the presence of synchronous lymphocytic thyroiditis in the background of differentiated thyroid carcinoma on histopathology. The higher levels of S. ATg interferes with usual assays for measurement of thyroglobulin levels and can falsely indicate presence of residual disease. Hence, routine baseline (pre- 131I-treatment) measurement of S. Tg and S. ATg and their correlation with the histopathology findings can help in identification of the etiology behind the raised values in the subgroup of patients having co-existent thyroiditis with DTC.
Source: Journal of Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Authors: Tags: Thyroid and Para-Thyroid Source Type: research