Thyroid Examination and Treatment: Nuclear Medicine in diagnosis & therapy of thyroid disease
Historical overview and general introduction
Although the vital functions of the thyroid gland have only been recognized and clarified in the last 120 years, the most frequent disease of the thyroid (Goiter) has been mentioned in scientific literature and represented in the fine arts for millennia.
Canvases depicting people with goiter or the typical facial expression of a hypothyroid can be found in the masterpieces of all times.
People with goiter were already depicted in Egyptian frescoes, including an illustration of Cleopatra with an enlarged thyroid in the neck from the 1st century BC. We owe Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings for the nice representations of the anatomy of the thyroid gland and the goiter. The use of iodinated salt for thyroid diseases was already recognized at that time.
Frequently asked questions:
- Where is the thyroid gland located and how important is it for the body?
- What is a goiter?
- When is iodine deficiency mentioned?
- What are the symptoms of a hyper- or hypofuction of the thyriod?
- Which thyroid diseases cause hyperfunction or hypofunction?
- What is the difference between a diffuse and a nodular enlargement of the thyroid gland (goiter)?
- What is meant by a hot nodule and a cold nodule?
- How are hot (and most commonly benign) nodules treated?
- How does radioactive iodine therapy work and do I have to go to the "Bunker"?
- Compared to surgery, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the radioactive treatment?
- Do I have to be checked further after an operation or radioiodine therapy?
- What is the significance of a cold node?
- What are the histological types of thyroid cancer and how is their prognosis?
- How is thyroid cancer treated?
- Why is a radioiodine treatment performed after surgery for thyroid cancer even though "everything has been removed"?
- What are the possible side effects of radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer?
- What are the results of radioiodine therapy after thyroid surgery and how often do I need to be checked?