INCREASED UPTAKE OF IN-111 PENTETREOTIDE UP TO 10 YEARS AFTER EXTERNAL THORACIC IRRADIATION - REPORT OF 2 CASES

Indium-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy was performed in two patients fo r the localization of recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma treated by surgery and external radiotherapy 1 and 10 years earlier. A marked up take of the radiopharmaceutical was demonstrated in the lung areas tha t had been irradiated, These cases strongly suggest that this uptake i s related to pulmonary fibrosis, a well-known complication of radiothe rapy, even long after the irradiation, Therefore, attention must be pa id to the avoidance of false-positive interpretation of somatostatin r eceptor scintigraphy in patients previously treated by radiotherapy.