Cancer of the thyroid with metastases to the lungs; condition shown by scintigram in absence of definite x-ray findings.

Abstract

There have been several reports on the use of radioactive iodine (I 131 ) in the treatment of lung metastases from cancer of the thyroid gland. In these reports collection of I 131 in the chest was detected in sites corresponding to the observable metastases in the x-ray films. Our purpose in presenting the case that follows is to show that the presence of metastases in the lungs may be demonstrated by the use of the scintigram in instances in which roentgenograms fail to show them. The following observations in a boy 11 years of age make this case an important one for future studies in the detection of chest metastases in children. Report of a Case The patient, an 11-year-old Negro boy, came to the ear, nose, and throat clinic on Aug. 27, 1953, with acute tonsillitis. He had been told one year previously that he had two masses in the right