Determination of thyroglobulin in patients with thyroid carcinoma treated surgically

ABSTRACT

Thirty patients who had undergone thyroidectomy for thyroid carcinoma were included in this study. These patients were of different age groups with marked female preponderance. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest type among these patients. Blood samples were collected in two phases. Phase I [7 days after surgery] and phase II [3 months after surgery]. Serum thyroglobulin [TG] was determined and was found to be of low levels in phase II as compared to phase 1 [P< 0.001]. the low serum Tg levels following thyroidectomy were indicative of remission or disease free state. However, in phase II elevated serum Tg level was found in one patient in whom recurrence was detected by fine needle aspiration cytology. Hence, estimation of serum Tg levels seems to provide a useful, non-invasive procedure to detect recurrence or metastasis in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who have undergone thyroidectomy