In vivo 1H MR spectroscopy of thyroid carcinoma

King, Ann D.; Yeung, David K.W.; Ahuja, Anil T.; Tse, Gary M.K.; Chan, Amy B.W.; Lam, Sherlock S.L.; van Hasselt, Andrew C.

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2004.05.003

« Previous Next »European Journal of Radiology
Volume 54, Issue 1 , Pages 112-117, April 2005

In vivo ¹H MR spectroscopy of thyroid carcinoma

Ann D. King
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 2632 2290; fax: +852 2636 0012.
David K.W. Yeung
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
Anil T. Ahuja
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
Gary M.K. Tse
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
Amy B.W. Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
Sherlock S.L. Lam
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China
Andrew C. van Hasselt
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China

Received 2 February 2004; received in revised form 28 April 2004; accepted 3 May 2004.

Abstract

To determine if proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) of thyroid carcinoma is feasible and to determine if ¹H MRS spectra of malignant tumors differ from that of normal thyroid tissue. We performed ¹H MRS at 1.5T at echo-times (TE) 136 and 272ms to examine eight patients with thyroid cancer (primary tumour or nodal metastasis) larger than 1cm³ in size and five volunteers with normal thyroids. Spectra acquired from six primary tumors (three anaplastic carcinomas, two papillary carcinomas and one follicular carcinoma) and two nodes (two papillary carcinoma metastases) were analyzed in the time-domain using a non-linear least squares fitting algorithm with incorporation of prior knowledge. Choline (3.2ppm) was identified in all solid carcinomas with a mean choline/creatine of 4.3 at TE 136ms and 5.4 at TE 272ms. Ratios for malignant tumors at TE 136ms ranged from 1.6 in well differentiated follicular carcinoma to 9.4 in anaplastic carcinoma. No choline was detected in normal thyroid tissues. Our results showed that ¹H MRS is a feasible technique for the evaluation of malignant thyroid tumors larger than 1cm³ and that proton spectra of malignant tumors differ from that of normal thyroid tissue.