Technetium-99m thyroid scan; does it have a diagnostic aid in sub-clinical auto-immune thyroid disease in systemic lupus erythematosus patients?, Amin, A., Alkemary A., Abdo M., and Salama M. , Lupus, Volume 25, p.155–161, (2016) Abstract

Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) thyroid scintigraphy is a well known diagnostic tool that
shows the entire gland in a single image. We aimed to evaluate its additive diagnostic value in
subclinical autoimmune thyroid disease (S-AITD) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
patients. Methods: We investigated 100 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients without
overt thyroid involvement (eight men and 92 women; mean age 406.5 years) and 50 age and
sex matched controls. All were subjected to thyroid evaluation using anti-thyroglobulin (anti-
TG) and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies; hormones (FT3; FT4 and TSH) and
Tc-99m thyroid scintigraphy. Results: 14/100 (14%) and none (0%) were positive for S-AITD
in SLE and control groups, respectively (P¼0.0001). They were classified by thyroid scintigraphy
and hormonal profile into 2/14 Hashimoto; 10/14 atrophic thyroiditis and 2/14 Graves’
disease. Anti-TPO was elevated in 12 SLE cases, while anti-TG was elevated in only 2/14
(P¼0.0001). Thyroid scintigraphy showed statistically significant associations with FT4,
TSH and anti-TPO. Conclusion: Tc-99m thyroid scintigraphy may have an additional
diagnostic role in S-AITD among SLE patients, with an impact on patient management.
This potential needs to be further evaluated in a larger series on a multicenter
basis.