What's the Best Way to Detect Cancer Recurrence After a Thryoidectomy? Albert B. Lowenfels, MD Followup of Patients With Papillary Thyroid Cancer: In Search of the Optimal Algorithm Mittendorf EA, Wang X, Perrier ND, et al. Summary To assess the best follow-up strategy after total thyroidectomy for papillary cancer of the thyroid, the authors followed 126 patients who had a minimum observation period of 6 months. Median age of patients was 44 years, and the median follow-up period was 34 months (range, 6-148 months). Disease recurrence was noted in 13 patients (10.3%), with 9 recurrences in the cervical area and 4 in the pulmonary area. Recurrent disease could be accurately detected using ultrasonography and unstimulated thyroglobulin measurement. The 4 cases of pulmonary disease were detected with a chest computed tomography scan. Viewpoint This report emphasizes cervical ultrasonography as the best way to detect early recurrent disease, which can then be treated effectively, often with surgery. The recommendation agrees with national guidelines that focus on ultrasonography because it has more than 90% sensitivity in detecting recurrent cervical disease. Albert B. Lowenfels, MD, Professor of Surgery, Professor of Community Preventive Medicine, New York Medical Center, Valhalla, New York; Emeritus Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, New York Disclosure: Albert B. Lowenfels, MD, has served as an advisor to Solvay Pharmaceuticals. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;205:239-247 Medscape General Surgery. 2007; ©2007 Medscape Posted 10/25/2007 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.